


My Fair Peter

by Dryerlint



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bottom Peter Parker, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Hurt Peter Parker, M/M, Mentioned May/Happy, Mutual Pining, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Oblivious Peter Parker, POV Peter Parker, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter is 22, Peter pretends to be a spy, Possessive Tony Stark, Protective Tony Stark, Slow Burn, So much Tony denial, There's an OC but who cares, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark in Denial, Top Tony Stark, Topping from the Bottom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:06:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23939611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dryerlint/pseuds/Dryerlint
Summary: To help them obtain the location of an alien tech auction, SHIELD enlists Peter to go undercover to seduce and trick a billionaire arms dealer who has taken a shine to the spiderling.  Since Peter has no idea how to act like a billionaire, SHIELD demands that Tony train him.  The only problem is that Mr. Stark, the man Peter’s been crazy about since he was fifteen, has been avoiding him like the plague for the last year and he has no idea why.
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 155
Kudos: 706





	1. Overture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very, very loose parody of the musical/play My Fair Lady/Pygmalion, hence the name! It’s about a high-class gent teaching a lower class love interest how to be all fancy and such. 
> 
> This was supposed to be 100% a comedy, similar to my recent Freaky Friday story, but… it took a weird turn, so I’m not sure what the heck it is anymore. But no worries, it’s still not a sad fic or anything! Goodness no. Just a different energy. Like passiony and stuff. More rom than com. 
> 
> I definitely didn't think I was going to have another Starker idea this soon, if ever, but here you go! 
> 
> This kind of has Peter/OC in it, but I’m not tagging it because it’s not real. 
> 
> This is not Endgame compliant at all. I guess it could be Infinity Wars compliant, if you assume they brought Peter (and others) back somehow very shortly after they were dusted? The dusting is not mentioned, though. Best just to not overthink it. Same goes for anything SHIELD related. Just roll with it.

Peter couldn’t remember the last time he felt as uneasy and anxious as he did at that exact moment. One of his legs was nervously bouncing as he impatiently waited in what was apparently Director Fury’s waiting room. At least that’s what they told him when he arrived.

He wasn’t sure why he was so worried; he’s been on plenty of missions run by SHIELD before.

_Not like this. Whatever the heck **this** is. _

Most of his SHIELD interactions had been as a group with the other Avengers, and usually he was added as just an afterthought. As far as he could tell, this was a situation where he was being singled out. Well, that’s what he thought until he saw a familiar face headed his way.

While it was nice to know he wasn’t alone, it did not help his nerves in the slightest to see the man he had secretly been in love with for a good portion of his 22 years of living. The man who, for the last year, had become increasingly distant with each passing day.

“Hi, Mr. Stark,” Peter called out to him, discreetly wiping his sweaty palms on the legs of his dress pants. For some reason he had felt the need to dress up, almost like he was going to a job interview.

Tony turned his attention to the man and looked surprised to see him. Perhaps it was only Peter’s paranoia, but he also looked somewhat disappointed, which proceeded to break Peter’s heart.

“Oh, uh, hey kid,” he responded, not meeting Peter’s direct gaze. He started to casually look around as if he were hoping there was someone else nearby to distract him.

“Um…any idea why we’re here?” Peter asked innocently. Not only did he want to know the answer, but he also wanted to try and strike up a conversation with the older man.

“No clue,” Tony said, suddenly extremely interested in the phone he had in his hand.

Peter decided not to push any further as it was very apparent that Mr. Stark did not want to have a discussion with him.

He had been under the impression that he and Mr. Stark were close. He thought that they had actually become really good friends over the last few years rather than just a mentor-mentee relationship. Apparently, he had been wrong.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to stay in awkward silence for long. His Tony concern was replaced with his original anxiety as they entered the room where both Director Fury and Agent Hill were waiting.

“Love what you’ve done with the place,” Tony muttered as his greeting, looking around the office, still avoiding Peter’s gaze at all cost. “But I’m sure you didn’t summon us here under mysterious circumstances to show us that your carpet now matches your drapes.”

Per usual, Fury looked unamused by Tony’s humor while Hill and Peter suppressed a smirk. “Why are we here?” Tony asked bluntly.

“Nice to see you as always, Stark,” Fury replied grimly. “You’re here because you have a special skill set that we are looking to utilize.”

“Oh?” he asked feigning interest. “And what special skill set might that be?”

“Being a pretentious, billionaire dick,” Fury responded, not giving any indication that he was joking in the slightest. The corner of Tony’s mouth twitched into a smirk. With a wave of Fury’s hand, a picture of a man taken through a scope at a distance appeared on the large screen in front of them. “Look familiar?”

“Gregorio Agosti,” Peter answered quickly as if he were on a gameshow.

“Correct. Gregorio Agosti; Entrepreneur, Billionaire…” Fury changed the image to a picture of Agosti shaking hands with some seemingly shady individuals. “Alien arms dealer.”

“If you think that I can get him to spill intel at our next billionaire’s secret club meeting, then I hate to disappoint,” Tony said sarcastically with folded arms. “He and I aren’t exactly ‘BFFs.’”

Peter recalled Mr. Stark’s very apparent disdain for the man at the “something something” gala for “something something” that had occurred four months prior. He had invited Peter along for “networking” purposes as his employee to rub elbows with some of the elite.

Things had already been rocky in their relationship up to that point, so Peter had been over the moon when he received the invite. Much to his dismay, that was the last time he had seen Tony. From that point on, the man constantly claimed to be too busy for Peter to stop by or to join Peter at the lab when he was working. Eventually Peter just stopped asking.

He has spent hours and hours wracking his brain to try and figure out what he might have done that night to finally break any relationship they had left. He was fairly certain that the man distanced himself initially because of how Peter felt about him, but he had no idea why the animosity between them kept getting worse until their friendship was completely annihilated.

“Do you honestly think that I’m stupid enough to have a mission rely on you to play nice with someone?” Fury responded. “In fact, despite Agosti being a billionaire with a massive ego…” he pointedly stared at Tony before continuing to speak. “He’s a notorious recluse with a very private and exclusive inner circle.”

“We have intel that Agosti will be auctioning off a substantial amount of very dangerous alien tech to the highest bidder at the end of this month,” Maria explained. “The trouble is we have no idea where the auction is or what tech he has in his possession.”

“Then get one of your spies to figure it out,” Tony pushed.

“You think we haven’t tried that?” Fury said, losing what little patience he had. “Over the last several months we’ve had multiple agents attempt to interact with him with no success. Some of our people couldn’t even get the guy to give them the damn time, let alone the location to an underground billion-dollar alien tech auction.”

“In the last five months of surveillance, we have only seen Agosti react positively to _one_ of our people,” Maria said hesitantly. Both Fury and Maria turned their attention to Peter who up until this point had no idea why he was there.

_Fuck._

Peter knew the others could see the redness spreading quickly across his cheeks. “Wha—What? Me?” he asked, trying to forcefully chuckle in disbelief.

Yes, Peter remembered Gregorio Agosti from the night of the gala. Peter had stupidly tripped over his own feet and spilled some of his drink on Gregorio’s shoes as the man reached out to catch him. He had apologized profusely as he attempted to clean up the spill with a nearby napkin he managed to find. Instead of being angry, the man wanted to make sure that Peter was okay.

Yes, they did then proceed to have a conversation for a good ten- or fifteen-minutes following.

Annnnd yes, Peter was fairly certain that the man was flirting with him, especially considering he left his business card along with his personal cell number in Peter’s back pocket when he left to attend to other business matters.

He was a nice guy; he didn’t seem like a dangerous criminal at all. Though, in the 10-15-minute period, they had only exchanged names and basic small talk. They hadn’t even discussed details about who they were or why they were there. It’s likely he would have lost interest in Peter the moment he discovered he was just an entry level employee at Stark Industries.

Peter glanced over at Mr. Stark for a second, still trying to figure out what his role was in all of this. He noticed that the man had a tightened jaw as he watched Peter. Turning his focus back to Fury, Peter asked, “So what? You expect me to somehow get him to tell me about where the auction is?”

“That’s exactly what we expect you to do,” Fury replied honestly.

Peter’s brows were furrowed in confusion. “How the heck am I supposed to do that? I’m just…me… And I can’t imagine he’d want to give that info up to Spider-Man any more than telling plain old Peter Parker.”

“According to surveillance, the only information you disclosed to him was your name,” Fury explained. “And that you apparently enjoyed the mini quiches.” Peter didn’t think it was possible for his face to turn any redder, but low and behold.

“In his defense, the quiches were excellent.” Peter’s heart leapt when he heard Tony speak, even if it was just a pointless anecdote.

“My point is he doesn’t know you’re ‘plain old Peter Parker.’ So… you won’t be,” Fury shrugged. “You’ll be Peter Parker: billionaire business mogul with an interest in arms dealing of the unusual kind.”

Peter laughed so hard he accidentally snorted, which caused Tony to do his best to suppress a smile. When he saw that Nick and Maria remained completely stoic, Peter’s face dropped. “Wait, you’re serious?” The two SHIELD members nodded their heads. “I mean, not telling you guys how to do your jobs or anything, but that’s a really stupid plan. There’s no way in hell he’s going to buy that.” Peter stared at them in disbelief, waiting for them to tell him he was on some hidden camera show.

“I can assure you, Parker, you were not our first, second, or eightieth choice,” Nick confessed bitterly. “But right now, you’re our _only_ choice.”

“Not that I would _normally_ suggest this, but have you tried torture? I hear that can be pretty effective,” he recommended, only partially joking.

“If we thought that would work, I can assure you we would have taken that route over this,” Maria chimed in glumly.

“There’s a gala taking place this upcoming Saturday. You’re going to be there. You will act the part and…’befriend’ Gregorio using whatever means necessary in order to obtain an invitation to that auction.”

“Firstly, kind of worried about the use of air quotes there. Secondly, I don’t know the first thing about being a ‘billionaire business mogul’!” Peter insisted.

“Ah, shit,” Tony said with a sigh, finally realizing his part in all of this. Peter quickly turned his attention to the man who was now massaging his brow.

“You don’t,” Fury said pointing to Peter. “But he does,” he finished, now pointing at Tony. Peter’s pulse quickened at the sound of that potential implication.

“No. Definitely not happening,” Tony replied firmly shaking his head, much to Peter’s disappointment. “I’ve got way too much going on right now.” The younger man had heard him say those exact words a dozen or so times over the past few months.

“Lucky for us, Pepper was happy to confirm your availability for the next week,” Agent Hill said with a grin that clearly showed her inner thought of ‘Check mate, bitch.’

“I don’t even work for you,” Tony pushed.

“Right. You’re a consultant,” Fury said gesturing toward Peter. “So, _consult_.”

Peter couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his former mentor so annoyed. “A word?” he asked, gesturing to speak with Fury privately. The two men stepped to the side out of hearing range and began to argue back and forth, occasionally gesturing to Peter. The young man bit his lip to try to hide his heartbreak as his former mentor did everything in his power to get out of spending time with him. After a few minutes, the men returned to their original spots in the room.

Based on the look of defeat on Tony’s face, he had clearly lost the debate. “I’ll have a car pick you up tomorrow at five,” he muttered, looking in his direction but still avoiding his direct eyeline. Peter merely nodded in response, turning his gaze to the ground. “Always a pleasure,” he smirked sarcastically to Fury and Hill before putting on his sunglasses and exiting the office.

“Um, is there anything else I should know?” he asked nervously. He wanted to be a smart ass and add “Do you want me to sprout wings too?” but he just wasn’t feeling his usual level of snark.

“No. Dismissed,” Fury said making a shooing motion. Once Peter left, the two remaining people turned toward each other.

“We’re screwed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically the prologue of the story to get things started. Hopefully you all enjoyed it! :)


	2. Wouldn't It Be Loverly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 1: The Art of Looking Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all are so amazing for the kudos and comments. I love it so very much.
> 
> So I’ve read a loooot of fanfiction. And because of that, there are some head canons that I’m sure you all have seen before that I’ve fallen in love and are just freaking canon. Can’t convince me otherwise. Italian Tony is one of the biggies. 
> 
> I don’t want you guys to dislike Tony in this story. He’ll redeem himself in later chapters, but for now he’s not painted in the best light. 
> 
> Names of chapters are going to be My Fair Lady songs because why the hell not. 
> 
> I really hope you guys like this. It was this chapter that I realized this wasn't going as planned for a comedy, but here you go. 
> 
> I hope everyone is staying safe!

Peter shifted his weight back and forth as he impatiently waited by the curb in front of his apartment building. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his hoodie to protect himself from the September chill. He had stupidly gone outside ten minutes early, despite knowing it was very unlikely for Mr. Stark to pick him up early and spend any more time with him than he had to.

At 5:00 pm on the dot, he saw a car that looked absurdly out of place in the streets of Queens headed in his direction. Pulling up next to him, Peter gazed at the driver’s seat. His heart dropped.

Self-driving car.

Of course, it’s a self-driving car. Did he honestly think that Mr. Stark would be the one to pick him up like he had a million times before? Well, before everything went to shit with their relationship. Even when Stark wanted to show off his self-driving car in the past, he would at least be sitting in the driver’s seat or even the back seat so he could chat with Peter before reaching their destination.

Peter bit his bottom lip as he sat down in the passenger seat. He felt even more stupid when he glanced to the backseat of the vehicle just to double check. When he officially confirmed his suspicions that the car was completely empty, he sighed in defeat and fastened his seatbelt.

Twenty minutes later, the vehicle finally pulled over in front of a small shop that Peter had been to a few times. It was the shop of Tony’s tailor, Serafino Marcellini. Peter groaned, having an inkling that he wasn’t going to like whatever was in store for him.

After entering the shop, Peter was surprised. With the way things were going, he was almost certain he would just see the shop owner along with Tony’s personal stylist, Ezra. Instead, Tony stood before him, in the flesh, talking away with Serafino.

“Buona sera, Signore Marcellini. Come sta?” Peter said politely with a smile. In the past, Tony had taught him a handful of expressions in Italian to appease the shopkeeper.

The elderly man beamed at Peter. “Molto bene, grazie!” he responded before kissing him on the cheek. “Such a good boy,” the Italian man said, affectionately patting the same cheek before slowly moving away. Peter’s gaze turned to Tony who was staring at him with dark eyes. Peter blushed and unconsciously wet his lips, refusing to think anything of it.

“So, what’s the plan, professor?” Peter asked awkwardly. He had intended for it to be playful, but his mind instantly ran with the fantasy of Professor Stark bending him over a school desk. He immediately thought of something else to prevent an impending erection.

Thankfully, Tony didn’t bat an eye. “We’re here to get you a suit,” he explained.

“But I have a suit,” Peter said with confusion. About a year prior, before their friendship was in shambles, Tony had bought him a suit from that very shop to replace his old one for his college graduation. Peter had insisted on a lower end suit, citing the fact that given his luck he would probably ruin it having to fight some supervillain spontaneously as he crossed the stage to get his diploma. What a great way that would have been to expose himself as Spider-Man.

He knew that Tony could easily see through the lie, but he hated the thought of Tony wasting money on him.

“You have a Peter Parker ‘entry level employee’ suit, not a Peter Parker ‘The Billionaire’ suit,” Tony explained.

“There’s a difference?” Now Peter was really confused.

Tony just laughed and patted him on the shoulder before heading toward Marcellini. Peter felt a shock run through his veins at the other man’s touch. A sense of familiarity and normalcy washed over him. Why couldn’t things go back to the way they were?

Peter was somewhat familiar with the drill; he had been to the shop enough times as a tagalong to Mr. Stark to know that he had to be remeasured first as his old measurements on file were outdated. Peter remained perfectly still, standing in his shirt and boxers as the elderly man use his tailor tape measure. He may have been old, but he knew exactly what he was doing.

The younger man was surprised to see that his measurements had actually changed. He stood a little taller, his shoulders were a bit broader, and he had slowly replaced any baby fat he had left with lean muscle.

He constantly felt the burn of Tony’s gaze. The man looked like he was in a deep train of thought, his eyes glued to Peter. Based on the look of intensity, he must have been calculating a formula or something else that would drag his mind away from anything Peter related, right?

When the tailor finished his measurements, he tugged at Peter’s shirt sleeve. “Off. Off,” he insisted before hobbling to a separate section of the store. If he had known they were going suit shopping, he would have worn a proper undershirt like he had the last time they were there. But of course, he had worn a baggy, long sleeve shirt. It was easy enough to manipulate in order to get proper measurements, but not a good fit to try anything on.

Peter wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt nervous as he removed his shirt. Mr. Stark had seen him hundreds of times in just his boxers getting in and out of his Spider-Man suit. Why would this be any different?

As soon as he tossed the shirt off to the side, Tony suddenly remembered that he had an important phone call he needed to make and left the room. Peter sighed, presuming that his former mentor once again wanted to avoid being alone in a room with him, even for a short period of time.

Tony returned as Peter was finished getting dressed in the suit Marcellini had brought him. The younger man felt like an over-analyzed paper-doll as he was forced to try on various suits of different colors and styles. Unfortunately for Peter, his comprehension of Italian ended at the greeting, so he couldn’t even begin to understand what the tailor and Tony were saying as they pointed at different parts of Peter.

That didn’t matter, though. He could listen to Tony speaking Italian all day, even though he wouldn’t understand a word of it.

_That would require him to actually talk to you._

Marcellini had no problem moving Peter’s various body parts around like a ragdoll, but Tony remained at a safe distance, never getting close enough to touch.

It took longer than he thought it should have, but he was finally handed several garment bags from Marcellini’s assistant while Tony went to pay. Peter’s eyes grew wider as the numbers on the register began to steadily climb. When the final total was displayed, Peter felt like the wind was knocked out of him.

“Oh my god!” he groaned, bending over as his hands covered his face. It was so, so much money. Peter couldn’t even feasibly spend that on a used car, let alone a suit. He was going to have to be buried in that suit to get enough wears out of it to justify the cost. But then what he heard was music to his ears.

Mr. Stark was laughing.

Not only that, but it was an affectionate laugh. Peter stood up straight, removed his hands, and gazed at the other man. All he saw was a look that perfectly matched his laughter. He hadn’t seen that look in so long. It made him want to take a picture in case it was the last time he would ever see it.

“If you think that’s bad, just wait until we get you a watch,” Tony added, playfully patting him on the shoulder before leaving it there to guide him out of the store.

“Where’s the suit, Mr. Stark?” he asked confused. He had received garment bags, but none were heavy enough to possibly be a suit. “That last one I had on seemed nice.”

“No, no. Those were just style samples. No self-respecting billionaire would wear anything but a bespoke suit,” Tony explained. After Peter stared in confusion, he clarified, “Custom. He assures me it’ll be done in time for the gala, though. Trust me, Pete, it will feel nicer than anything you have ever worn in your life.”

“Then what are these?” he asked, gesturing to the half dozen garment bags he was still carrying.

“Well, if you’re going to learn the part, you’ve got to dress the part, even while training” Tony explained. “Besides, this is the first time you’ve actually let me dress you in something not Spider-Man related without an argument.”

Peter was flustered by that sentence that he had climbed into the passenger side of Tony’s car without a second thought. It wasn’t until he fastened his seatbelt that he realized what he had done on autopilot.

He froze, hesitantly looking over at Mr. Stark, wondering if he was just too polite to tell him to get out of the car and go use his own self-driving car. He wanted to slap himself on the forehead for doing something so careless. Luckily, Tony looked relaxed and didn’t seem to mind his presence. Peter sighed in relief as the older man pulled away from the curb, heading to someplace else ridiculously fancy.

Peter decided to press his luck. “So, what exactly does this training entail? Or is the real secret that all it takes is a nice suit?”

“There’s more to me than just a nice suit,” Tony responded tightly.

_Oh god, oh god_

“Nononono, that’s not what I meant!” he panicked.

_Oh god, I ruined it._

Tony’s tight lips turned into a wide grin as he started laughing. Peter exhaled, suddenly being able to breathe again. He had been joking. Normally Peter would have been able to catch when the man was joking, but he was so far on the edge that he was hyper paranoid.

“Unfortunately no, there’s more to it than that. It’s easy to spot a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or I guess in this case a sheep in a wolf’s custom Italian designer suit,” he explained. “You’re going to need to learn to walk, talk, and act like a billionaire.”

“Are you Pretty Woman-ing me, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked cheekily.

“Have you actually _seen_ Pretty Woman, kid?” Tony asked, highly suspect.

“Umm…no,” he admitted.

“The only reason I ask is because you just called yourself a prostitute,” he explained, much to Peter’s intense embarrassment. “I was thinking more Cinderella.”

Peter grinned. “Does that make you my Fairy Godmother, sir?”

“Ugh,” Tony responded with a shiver. “Bibiddy-bobbity-no.”

This made Peter laugh harder than he had for an exceedingly long time. His heart felt warm as he looked at his former mentor who mirrored his gaze and smile. After a moment of intense silence, Tony looked back and focused on the road, despite the fact that he wasn’t actually steering.

“There’s gotta be some adaptation where I’m better looking.”

Peter couldn’t believe how easy it was to fall back into old patterns with the man, talking and laughing about nothing in particular. It seemed just like old times.

And then it fell apart.

Tony’s hand casually fell to Peter’s lower back as he ushered him into the bright and shining Bulgari boutique. The two men were walking in stride as they were approached by a stylishly dressed employee who looked thrilled to see them. “Good evening, gentlemen. I believe we have exactly what you’re looking for right this way,” she gestured to follow her. Peter was surprised but Tony didn’t think anything of it as he continued to gently lead Peter with a light weight on his spine.

_Oh, duh, they knew we were coming._

They followed her until she reached a case filled with multiple, handsome rings on display. “We have a wide selection of different styles,” she started before Tony stopped her.

“No no, that’s not what we’re here for,” he attempted to say with a strained smile as if he was trying to play it off as a joke.

“Oh! My mistake!” she said, moving to another display nearby. “We do offer a selection of engagement rings for men as well, though we recommend viewing wedding bands to ensure a matching set.” She was so bright and happy looking that Peter didn’t even want to hurt her feelings by correcting her mistake.

And just like that, his hand disappeared. Mr. Stark was now standing at least two feet away, removing all contact. “Uh…no. We’re here to get him a watch,” he said quietly, his playful face nowhere to be found.

The woman turned a deep shade of red and looked like she was about to cry. “My sincerest apologies, Mr. Stark!” In addition to her embarrassment, she also looked incredibly confused. “In the twelve years I’ve been here, I’ve never guessed incorrectly. I just assumed because you two looked so—.” She stopped speaking immediately, realizing she was just digging her grave deeper and deeper with each word.

Peter wanted to console her, but he was too afraid to move. “No harm done,” Mr. Stark said. “I’m actually looking for model similar to this.” He tapped at the watch on his own wrist. “Maybe a bit…younger.”

She nodded. “Of course. I know just the piece. I will be back in just a moment,” she said before quickly moving to the watches, knowing that it would be impolite to keep herding the customers around like cattle when she had already made a disastrous faux pas.

“Mr. Stark, do I even need a watch? I mean, everybody just uses their phones to tell the time anyway,” he whispered quietly to the older man, making sure to keep his distance.

“The functionality of a watch to tell time is only a fraction of its overall purpose,” he explained back. “It’s ultimately a status symbol. So yes, you do.”

“Couldn’t I just borrow one of yours?”

“You’re an adult. You should have your own watch,” he said firmly. “Not to mention, I don’t like to share.” The sudden gruffness of Mr. Stark’s voice along with the possessiveness of his sentence made Peter’s cock twitch.

He wanted nothing more than to be one of the man’s possessions.

The first watch the woman showed them was ultimately what Mr. Stark selected, so she must have somewhat known how to do her job. What had she seen in them that made her think they were together?

Peter felt like he was going to throw up when he heard how much the watch cost. Even though Tony prepared him ahead of time by saying it would be worse than the suit, he didn’t think that it would be _that_ bad. Aunt May’s brand-new car hadn’t cost that much! But of course, once again, Tony didn’t bat an eyelash handing over his card.

“What’s the return policies on all this stuff?” Peter innocently asked Tony, feeling bad that Tony was paying so much money on someone he would go right back to ignoring the moment this mission was done. Maybe SHIELD was reimbursing him somehow? That had to have been it.

“Can’t return custom made, Pete,” Tony said as they headed back to the car. Of course, it was something Peter already knew, but he felt he needed to ask. He couldn’t even return the shoes Tony inevitably picked out for him. “Just think of it as an investment. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of use out of this stuff once you’re out there rubbing elbows with the elite at your future big kid job.” The older man forced a smile as he got back in the car.

Peter was pretty certain that his heart sank so low that it burned up in the Earth’s core. He knew that Mr. Stark had been giving him the cold shoulder as a friend, but now he didn’t even want Peter to work for him anymore either? He loved his job. I mean, sure he loved it more when Tony was there too, but he still loved it even when the man was in hiding.

“Right…Sure…” he said weakly, doing his best not to let the man hear the shakiness of his voice.

That night, after Mr. Stark dropped him off with little more than a half-hearted goodbye, Peter was grateful he lived alone. He was glad to not have anyone around to ask him why he was moping when he immediately crashed in his bed and didn’t move again until morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately this is not the only time Peter is going to have his heart broken in this story. 
> 
> But like most musicals (not that this is actually a musical), there's a happy ending!
> 
> Speaking of, there was mention of one of the adaptations of Pygmalion, Pretty Woman. Cinderella, however, is old as all hell, and is not an adaptation. But let's be real, they're both pretty damn applicable.
> 
> Thank you so so much for reading this! It is truly an honor that you guys have made it through this chapter, meaning I must be doing something right. Thanks so much for all of the kudos and comments.


	3. The Rain in Spain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: The Art of Looking Like You Give No Fucks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya guys! 
> 
> As always, thank you guys so much for your comments and kudos. With all the shit going on right now especially, the notifications I get about comments and kudos just brighten my day. 
> 
> In this chapter, we're dealing with some etiquette and acting like a billionaire. To be very clear, I am not a billionaire nor have I met anyone who is a billionaire, soooo ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Enjoy!

As they had agreed upon the day before, Peter arrived at Tony’s place after work for some more training. He made sure he was wearing the overly nice clothes bought the day before.

In a perfect world, they could have discussed all they needed to with Peter working by Tony’s side in the lab as they had a million times before. Instead, Tony remained in his private lab and Peter did his day to day work as normal.

Peter reached for the door to Tony’s wing of the compound but was surprised to find it locked.

_That’s weird._

It had never been locked for him before. Mr. Stark had given him clearance to come and go as he pleased back when Peter was 17 because it just made the most sense considering how frequently he was there.

“Hey FRIDAY,” Peter called out. “Is something wrong? It’s not letting me in.”

“Verifying authorization,” she responded followed by a few moments of silence. “Access granted.” Peter walked through the unlocked doors with confusion. Once he entered the living space, he saw Tony hunched over fiddling with some device.

“Hey Mr. Stark,” he called, just as he always had. “Your door’s acting funny. I had to wait for authorization from FRIDAY before I could get in.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I had new security protocols installed,” Tony explained, not tearing his eyes away from the screwdriver in his hand. “No big deal. FRIDAY just needs to get authorization from me first before unlocking the door. Takes like two seconds.”

Peter swallowed hard as he processed that little piece of new information. Mr. Stark had revoked his access. Or if he did install new security protocols, he purposely refrained from adding Peter back to his normal access level. “Right…No big deal,” he repeated back, lying to himself. “So, um, what’s on the agenda for today?”

“Anyone can dress in nice clothes, but that’s not all it takes to look the part,” Tony said, finally abandoning his project to look over at Peter. “Walk in a straight line for me.” He gestured to have the younger man walk toward him.

Peter shrugged and walked toward Tony. When Peter reached the other man, he was surprised to feel his hands on his body. He pushed on Peter’s shoulders to straighten his posture, then circled round to his front to look at him face to face. Tony then gently held Peter’s chin to raise it, so they were looking at each other straight on.

Peter’s breath hitched for a moment as he processed Tony’s action. He had definitely had many dreams that started like this. Their lips were less than a foot apart; it would have been so easy for Peter to close the gap between them. Once he was looking up, Tony removed all contact between them and stepped back. “It’s important that you keep your head and posture straight.”

_There is nothing_ straight _about what’s going on in my head right now._

“As a billionaire, you should never be looking down,” Tony added.

“Must make tying your shoes a bitch,” Peter teased.

Much to Peter’s delight, Tony smiled. “Why do you think loafers were invented?”

“I just assumed laziness or a general dislike of tying knots,” Peter replied with a shrug.

After Peter was standing perfectly straight, Tony made him do more walking. “Are you sure I shouldn’t have, like, books on my head or something?”

“Did you want books on your head?”

“I mean, I’m pretty sure that’s, like, Walking 101.”

“Your walking doesn’t have to be perfect every step of the way, just straight enough to make it looks as if you gave little to no fucks about anyone else,” the man explained openly.

For the next two hours, they went over how he should walk, talk, stand, sit, pretty much anything that Tony could think of. Some of it, especially the etiquette portion, Peter already had instilled in his brain just from his aunt and uncle teaching him manners growing up.

Some of it, however, was Tony tearing apart those manners and burying them in dirt. “You need to dial it back on the ‘sir’ thing,” he said plainly as Peter stared at him in confusion.

“Sir thing? What ‘sir’ thing?” Peter asked confused.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Really? You just called me ‘sir’ like twenty minutes ago.”

Peter thought back to twenty minutes ago when Tony was showing Peter how to properly shake hands. He had been so distracted by Mr. Stark’s strong, callused fingers curling around his hand that he didn’t know what the hell he may have said. As long as he hadn’t admitted out loud that he was imagining those same callused fingers curling around something else of his…

“Billionaires can be polite,” Peter replied defensively.

“You don’t call an equal ‘sir.’ It’s cute, but there’s politeness and then there’s being a submissive,” Tony responded. “Being submissive,” he quickly corrected himself, looking slightly flustered. Peter’s eyes flashed as he heatedly stared at Mr. Stark who was yet again avoiding his gaze. Not only had he called Peter cute, but he also corrected himself unnecessarily making it sound as if he believed he had made a Freudian slip.

Peter decided to press his luck. “I didn’t realize I was being a submissive, _sir_ ,” he responded bravely, patiently waiting for Tony to look him in the eye. He saw a darkness in his eyes for a split second before Tony made his way over to pick up his drink.

“I think that’s about all for tonight,” Tony said after taking a large swallow of his whiskey.

Peter tried to do his best not to show his disappointment. He went to throw on his jacket, that he had abandoned hours before, when he decided to ask something that had been bothering him. “While I really appreciate your help, Mr. Stark, and definitely trust you, there’s a lot of stuff you’ve gone over that you definitely don’t do.”

Tony chuckled. “That’s because I don’t need to prove to anyone that I’m a billionaire,” he admitted frankly, setting down his drink. “Years of reckless behavior, ridiculous spending, and lack of jail time is all the proof I need. You only get one evening to prove yourself.”

Peter realized he had a point. Besides, superpowers or no superpowers, he didn’t think his liver could handle the real Tony Stark approach to acting like a billionaire.

“Oh, before you leave,” Mr. Stark said, heading over to the table where a decorative box sat. He picked it up and handed it to Peter. “Toiletries.”

“You’ve thought of everything,” Peter said, looking into the box before lightly setting it back down. There were several insanely expensive looking bottles all delicately wrapped.

“Nobody is going to buy that you’re a billionaire when you’re bathed in Old Spice Body Wash,” Tony said bluntly.

“Wow, that’s… a really good guess,” Peter said surprised, trying to justify in his head how he may have known that. Unless, of course, Tony merely chose what he believed to be an unsophisticated, generic brand. Perhaps that’s why he looked like he had said something he shouldn’t have.

_At least I stopped literally bathing in Axe Body Spray like every other guy in high school._

“There’s a few different options for you to choose from in there. Whatever you end up liking best. Just, don’t go mixing different scents or overdoing it. Too much cologne is a real problem, so don’t go overboard with it.” Peter was startled by how close Tony moved toward him. “Only apply it lightly to clean, dry skin. Here.” He lightly touched Peter on the neck. “Here.” Tap on the chest. “Or here.” Mr. Stark held Peter delicately by the wrists, moving a callused finger gently over his pulse points.

Peter was praying that the man wasn’t holding on tight enough, otherwise he would be able to easily tell that Peter’s heart was racing. It only lasted for a moment before Tony yet again backed away, cutting off all contact between them.

Peter was relieved that he managed to catch the involuntary whine he was about to make right before it escaped his lips. “We’ll meet at the compound’s gym tomorrow instead; more space.”

The younger man tilted his head curiously. “More space? For?”

“Your third lesson,” Tony said cryptically with a sly grin. “Don’t be late.”

Peter wondered if the older man was deliberately being a tease or if it just happened naturally. Either way, it made him want to pull his hair out in frustration.

Peter opened the box when he got home and examined all the various bottles. There was a variety of hair care products, lotions, cologne, everything he might possibly need. He was certain that the contents in the box easily surpassed the cost of all of the new clothes Mr. Stark bought him, including the suit.

Most of the products were brands he recognized (and had never tried, of course), but a lot were names he had never even heard of and certainly couldn’t pronounce.

He carefully laid them all out on his bed and smelled each item to see if anything really stood out. There was one that smelled like warm grass, one that smelled citrusy, and then one…

_Wait a minute._

He took another inhale and his eyes widened. He’d recognize that cologne anywhere. Mr. Stark had included a sample of his own cologne. Peter could smell the familiar scent of smoky cedar and leather.

He knew that scents were strongly tied to memories and emotions. He remembered learning in class about how the olfactory bulb is directly connected to the amygdala and hippocampus. That would explain why he suddenly felt very warm and safe in the pit of his belly with just with one singular spritz of cologne.

Peter sighed in frustration when he thought back to Tony. Once this weird training thing was finished, he had no idea when he would get the chance to see the man again. He supposed it would likely just be if another mission arose. Sure, they worked out of the same location, but Mr. Stark had done a great job of managing to avoid Peter there.

While he wasn’t thrilled about this particular assignment, he knew he should be thankful for the time he was getting with the man he admired more than he could put into coherent words.

Peter fell asleep to the smell of Tony’s cologne on his pillow, thinking about what on Earth they might be doing that would require extra space.


	4. Just You Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter thinks about the moment things started to go wrong with Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I know what you all must be thinking right now—“But Dryerlint, the song ‘Just You Wait’ comes before ‘The Rain in Spain!’ This is an outrage! How dare you!” Simply ridiculous of me, I know. But there was no way in hell I wasn’t going to title the previous chapter “The Rain in Spain” and there was no way in hell I wasn’t going to title the next chapter… the song that comes after “The Rain in Spain.” Forgive me. I promise that the titles go in order from here on out. =P
> 
> But anyway, this is my favorite chapter of this story and I hope you guys enjoy it too. That's why I'm posting this earlier than I wanted to, because I was so antsy about it. The level of fluff in this should hold you guys over for a while… I think. 
> 
> There’s even a little dash of May/Happy for you, because why the hell not? It’s cute. 
> 
> As always, thank you guys so so much for the kudos and the comments! You all are truly amazing and it really warms my heart. 
> 
> Enjoy!

At work the next day, Peter felt giddy about the prospect of going to the compound. It had been far too long since he had been at the main facility.

After he graduated from high school, he had once again been offered a space to live in the compound with the rest of the Avengers. He declined, citing the fact that he wanted to be closer to his college campus since he was going to be spending a lot of time there with his advanced workload. The plan was that once he graduated college, he would live at the compound with the other Avengers. Tony had promised him a full-time position once he graduated, so he was all set.

Peter had imagined his future of heading to work alongside Tony, laughing as they grabbed coffee before going to the lab. Then they’d come home and hang out with the other Avengers and have dinner or movie nights. Or maybe they’d go patrolling together.

No matter what, it was all going to be perfect. Nothing could go wrong.

Until it did.

The first sign of things going wrong actually occurred at Happy and May’s wedding shortly before graduation. It was also the one foolish day that he thought something might actually happen between him and his mentor.

Peter and Tony had been awake since the ass crack of dawn, fulfilling their Man of Honor and Best Man (respectively) duties to make sure everything ran smoothly.

Despite May and Happy refusing to let Tony hire them the best wedding planner in the country, the wedding went off without a hitch. The only slight hiccup was Happy having a mini self-loathing panic attack, which was quickly squashed by May giving him a pep talk all while he kept his eyes tightly closed so he wouldn’t see her in her dress before the ceremony.

“Tony, aren’t you supposed to be the one to talk him off the ledge?” Peter had asked him with mild amusement. “Isn’t that like your main job description?”

“I’ve learned something over the years: never get in the way of May Parker,” Tony responded.

“Smart man,” Peter told him. “That and the fact that May is always right are probably the two most important words of advice you can give to Happy as keys to a successful marriage.”

Tony hummed in agreement. “Maybe best for you to be the one to tell him. I’m not exactly the poster child for successful marriages,” he admitted, the wedding ring tan line finally gone from his finger.

“He’s made it this far. I’m sure he knows.” Peter smiled brightly.

About halfway through the day, their faces hurt from all the smiling caused by general happiness and all of the ridiculous pictures they had to take.

Each man gave a speech of their own at the start of the reception; Tony ribbed about May’s cooking skills while Peter exclaimed his disappointment that the six other dwarves apparently couldn’t make it to Happy’s wedding. The boy’s heart fluttered wildly when Tony laughed the loudest at the truly terrible joke.

Peter had just turned 21 the month before, so needless to say, he partook in the consumption of some adult beverages. In true Tony Stark fashion, part of his gift to the couple was covering the cost of the open bar. The young man took full advantage of that gift by seeing how much alcohol he could drink before getting tipsy. With his powers, it turned out to be _a lot_ of alcohol.

After the dance floor was opened up to all the guests, Peter was dragged out to its center by MJ and Ned, who Aunt May had made sure to invite. Overheated, he had tossed his tux jacket, tie, and vest off to the side before unbuttoning the first few buttons of his dress shirt. The friends laughed and danced wildly, all three a little intoxicated. Peter jokingly held onto MJ’s hips as they swayed together suggestively with the music.

The tingling that Peter felt at the back of his neck made him turn around. Tony was sitting off to the side of the dancefloor with a whiskey in his hand, staring directly at Peter. There was no humor or amusement in his dark eyes. The only appropriate description Peter could think of was a look of hunger.

By that point in the evening, Tony had also relaxed his attire. His bowtie was untied and laying loosely around his neck. He never tore his eyes away as the younger man walked toward him with a purpose. From about a foot away, Peter could see his largely dilated pupils.

_It’s dark. That’s all._

Peter daringly reached out to grab each side of Tony’s loose bowtie, pulling gently to get him to stand up. The resistance he felt from him was unexpected, so Peter had to catch himself before he fell into the older man’s lap.

“Come dance with us, Tony!” Peter insisted boldly, smiling brightly at his mentor.

Tony smirked. “Oh, is that what that was?” he asked playfully.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun!” he whined, not removing his hands from the strands of the bowtie

He shook his head in return, shouting over the loud music, “I don’t dance at weddings.”

Peter pouted and let go before returning to his friends to continue their ridiculous movements. The prickling at the back of his neck never went away all while he was dancing. From time to time he would look over at Tony who looked mesmerized by his movements.

Shortly after midnight, after all the other guests had left, Tony and Peter were out by the venue’s beachfront, lying on top of one of the outdoor daybeds. Sure, it would have been far more appropriate for them to select individual chairs, but in their drunken state it made perfect sense that two people should sit in a seat meant for two people.

While normally for sunbathing, the two were sprawled out shoulder to shoulder, gazing up at the night sky. “It’s just so beautiful!” a tipsy Peter exclaimed in a whisper as he looked at the stars in wonder. Tony was looking at the man, reveling in the excitement painted on his face.

“Sure is,” Tony agreed before turning to look up at the night.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love New York, but you definitely can’t see _this_ in New York,” he said, not taking his eyes off the view.

“I should take you to my place in California. Actually, if you think this is good, you’ll be blown away by the view in Italy,” Tony responded.

“Italy?” 

“I’ll take you there some time. You’ll love it. You think you can see a lot of stars now, just you wait,” he exclaimed.

“That would be amazing!” Tony wasn’t looking directly at him, but he could hear that the boy was smiling as he spoke. “I wonder what’d it be like to go to space. I bet it’d be pretty awesome. Like a hotel on Mars.”

“Eh, I’ve heard it’s overrated,” the older man replied. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but the look on Tony’s face made it appear that he was uneasy at the idea of Peter going to space.

The boy laughed. “Bet it’d bring a whole new meaning to a five-star resort, though.”

Tony groaned. “That was terrible.”

Peter gently elbowed him. “No, it wasn’t. I’m hilarious.”

“Uh huh. Whatever you say, Pete.”

The younger of the two looked up and began to examine each star very closely. Tony could hear him counting and saying constellations under his breath. “What cha doing there, Pete?” He asked out of curiosity, seeing the look of intensity. Peter shushed him much to his surprise.

After a few more seconds, Peter pointed above them and off to the left a little way in the sky, his hand crossing slightly over on Tony’s side of the seat. “Asgard would have been that way,” he said with the sound of absolute certainty.

Stark chuckled at his overly serious demeanor. He reached out, gently grabbed ahold of Peter’s outstretched hand and moved it about a foot to the right. “Actually, it would have been that way.”

“Really?” Peter asked surprised.

“I have no idea,” Tony admitted. The two men fell into a fit of laughter, not noticing at first that when Peter’s hand fell back down to his side, Tony’s hand continued to hold on. Once Peter processed that he wasn’t letting go, he decided to thread their fingers together. While they both noticed this change, neither said anything as they continued to sit there, staring at each other with their fingers entwined. Although he used darkness as an excuse yet again, he could see that the man’s eyes were full dilated.

Peter’s heart was racing wildly in his chest. He wasn’t sure if it was the situation or the alcohol, but he was feeling lightheaded.

Even with the sound of the waves crashing nearby, his super hearing could faintly hear the sounds of the man’s equally elevated heart rate.

They sat in comfortable silence for what felt like an hour, almost as if they were silently challenging the other one to make the next move. Peter decided to nervously speak up. “May’s sister, Angela, is hosting a brunch tomorrow morning, by the way. Not sure if you knew. Sort of a sendoff before the happy couple heads out on their honeymoon, which May is so grateful for, by the way.” The bride and groom were blown away to find that their honeymoon had been upgraded ten-fold as another one of Tony’s wedding presents.

“I assume Angela didn’t invite you because she kind of hates you. Which I know you kind of hate her too. And I get that, she’s not exactly the nicest person in the world.” In true Peter Parker form, he knew he was saying everything way too quickly. “But it should still be fun and there will be some good food and they’ll be opening their gifts. And it’d be good to see them before they leave for two weeks. So even though you weren’t invited, I thought you might want to come along as my date?”

He stared at the man with wide eyes as he waited impatiently for a response. He knew the other man was trying to be subtle, but Peter was highly aware of Tony unlacing their hands just so he could adjust the glasses on his face.

“Sorry, kid, I’ve, uh, actually got to head to California for a bit for business. But sounds fun!” Peter could tell that the man was forcing a smile. His stomach churned.

_Kid?_

Tony hadn’t called him kid in four years. Suddenly he felt like he was a teenager again.

Little did he realize that this was the first time in a long stretch of excuses Tony would make to get out of spending time with Peter.

“Oh, okay,” he said, trying to hide his disappointment. “Are you going to be back in time to help May and Happy move to their new place after they get back?”

“I don’t understand why they don’t just hire movers like normal people,” Tony shook his head.

“Your definition and my definition of normal is very different,” Peter joked, hoping to break the sudden and unfamiliar tension. Tony provided a half-hearted chuckle. “Besides, it’s more about saying goodbye to the apartment. It’s been in the family for such a long time because it’s rent controlled and all. Ben and dad grew up in it. May was hoping that I would take it, but I…”

“Well why don’t you?” Tony said, suddenly perked, sitting up in the chair. “You’re graduating in a couple months.”

“But I…” _Was going to live with you_.

“That’d be perfect for you. You’re a young guy who needs his own space. It’d be a great bachelor pad.”

Peter’s face fell. The images of him and Tony living and working together were squashed before his eyes. Why was Tony saying these things?

He was quickly sobering up, realizing that the weirdness didn’t start until after he started holding Tony’s hand while asking about a date. Oh god, he had majorly messed up. If he could take it all back, he would.

“But I…” _We were going to be together._ Peter did his best to harden his heart to keep it from breaking any further. “Um. I can’t even afford it.”

“Of course you can, kid,” Tony insisted. “You haven’t touched any of the money I set aside for your college expenses. Plus, there’s the signing bonus from when you start with us in January. Perfect.”

“Right. Of course. Perfect, _Mr. Stark_ ,” he responded, grateful that it was too dark for the man he loved to see the tear running down his cheek.

He had called Tony’s phone the next day to apologize and blame it all on the alcohol, but his call went to voicemail after two rings. So, he left a heartfelt message saying he was sorry instead. Much to his dismay, it was all downhill from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to be perfectly clear that I don’t enjoy breaking Peter’s heart. Just keep reminding yourself that this has a happy ending, I promise. 
> 
> One thing I wanted to point out is that personally I prefer fanfics where Tony gets off on being called “Mr. Stark.” I use it in both of my other Starker fanfics. This will not be one of those fics. There is strategy behind me having Peter say “Tony” vs. “Mr. Stark.” Just keep that in mind.


	5. I Could Have Danced All Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: The Art of Dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys as always so freaking much for comments and kudos. They always manage to cheer me up! 
> 
> Fun fact about this chapter: this was the scene that created the idea for this story. I wanted to make a story where Tony and Peter were dancing but didn’t want for it to seem out of character for them. So here you go! 
> 
> Hang in there. This chapter is bumpy. The chapter after this is going to be a funny one, I promise!

Peter arrived at the compound’s gym, unsure of what they were going to be doing for his third lesson. The only thing he could think of was Tony training him how to fight, but that didn’t make sense in the slightest. Over the years, Peter became a much better fighter than most of the Avengers, even Tony wearing his Iron Man gear. Not to mention, he didn’t remember anything about him fighting Agosti.

When he went through the gym’s doors, he noticed that the equipment had all been pushed off to the side to leave a large empty area in the middle of the room. There was no padding on the floor, so fighting seemed even more unlikely.

Slowly but surely, Peter comprehended what they were going to do. He swallowed hard.

“Figure it out yet?” Tony called to him, crossing over to Peter from the other side of the gym.

“We’re dancing?” he asked, his voice squeaking like he was a fifteen-year-old kid again.

“We’re dancing, yes,” the older man agreed.

“But I know how to dance,” Peter insisted. He could feel his cheeks start to warm.

“I’ve seen you dance. You don’t.”

“I do! May taught me how to dance!” he exclaimed.

“You mean this thing?” Tony then moved from one foot to the other, shaking his hips with each step, and letting his slightly tucked arms follow. Peter’s absurdly loud laugh echoed throughout the vast room, causing him to slap his own hand on his mouth. He hated to admit it but the man was spot on. “Yeah, that’s not dancing. Besides, that’s not the kind of dancing I’ll be teaching you.”

“Are you going to teach me how to do the Electric Slide? Because Aunt May taught me that too,” Peter said cheekily, making Tony grin. “I also know this thing.” Peter proceeded to floss with his arms.

The older man covered his face with his hands. “Dear god, no.”

“Okay for real, what are you teaching me?” he asked, loving the way his former mentor was feigning despair.

“FRIDAY?” Tony said to the air. A soft piano rolled into a song that played over the speakers surrounding the gym. Peter immediately blushed as the realization washed over him that he was going to be slow dancing with the man he was stupidly head over heels for.

“I know how to dance to this too,” Peter said nervously. “I went to Senior Prom. _And_ my date’s dad didn’t try to kill me, so I actually got to dance.”

“Okay hotshot. Show me,” Tony said, loosening his stance.

Peter’s eyes bulged. “Wha--?”

“Show me,” he repeated. “Pretend I’m your little girlfriend—who was it, MJ?” Peter nodded. “Pretend I’m MJ. It’s Senior Prom and I’m wearing a big, pretty, poofy dress with…glitter and shit. I don’t know.”

“You’ve met MJ before, right?” he joked.

“Are puffy sleeves still in fashion?” Tony asked. Peter arched a brow in amusement. “I’m kidding. I think.” The younger man was grateful that Tony was attempting to use humor as a distraction to the awkwardness of the situation. “So, show me.”

“I thought you didn’t dance,” he replied.

“I said I didn’t dance at weddings,” Tony clarified.

“I don’t—I don’t know?” Peter stuttered, slowly and carefully reaching out to hover both hands on Tony’s hips, not daring to actually touch the man. He left his hands there for mere seconds before dropping his arms and taking a step back.

“Wh—why would I need to learn dancing anyway? It’s not like I’m going to be dancing with Agosti,” he sputtered in confusion.

“Dancing is going to be your best opportunity to get to Agosti,” Tony explained. “It’s a way you can speak in private with him while still being out in the open. Otherwise you run the risk of others hearing or distracting him. So yes, you will be dancing with Agosti.”

Peter looked flustered. He knew he’d have to socialize with the man, but he wasn’t expecting he’d have to dance with him! “Why can’t I just pull him aside into another room to speak to him or something?”

Tony seemed to stiffen up at the words. “He put his phone number in your back pocket after talking to you for ten minutes. Yes, you _could_ pull him aside into a private room, but there’s a certain implication if you do.” Peter saw the darkness of Tony’s eyes and heard the bitterness of his voice. He wanted it to be a sign of Tony’s possessiveness, but he knew he was just fooling himself.

He definitely didn’t remember telling him about the phone number thing, though.

_SHIELD must have told him._

Gregorio Agosti was by no means unattractive. In fact, Peter thought he was quite good looking with his dark, tamed curls and a perfect smile. He had even considered using the phone number in his pocket once or twice to see if the man would care that he was just some guy from Queens.

He ultimately decided against it; he didn’t think it would be fair for Agosti since Peter wasn’t remotely close to being over Tony. Now that he knew the man was an arms dealer, he was grateful that he never made that call.

“We on the same page?” Tony asked. Peter responded quietly with a nod. “Okay. I’m going to teach you both parts. Traditionally the male leads, but with two males it could go either way. I’ll lead first and then we’ll switch.”

Peter was far too busy internally freaking the fuck out about dancing to fully appreciate that statement and picture in his horny little brain about the idea of Tony and him ‘switching.’ He desperately hoped that he looked calm and collected on the outside because he was definitely panicking on the inside.

“You’ll put your left hand here,” Tony said, delicately moving Peter’s hand to place it on his right shoulder. As soon as Peter’s hand was in position, the older man moved his right hand to hold Peter’s hip.

There was no hesitant hovering of hands like the younger man had meekly done. Tony’s palm was curved around Peter’s waist without hesitation. “And then you’ll have your right hand like this,” he continued, reaching out and holding onto his hand. “You’ll want to keep your hands up to about shoulder level.

Peter could feel the man’s callused hand holding onto his. As much as it made his heart flutter, it also dragged up memories of the incident at May and Happy’s wedding. The incident that started all this tension between them. The bitter taste in Peter’s mouth from that thought had him unconsciously lowering his head, his eyes wandering around.

“It’s important for you keep the connection with the other person. Otherwise it can come across as overly nervous or rude, neither of which is going to help you with this mission,” Tony said, separating their hands for a moment just to gently tilt Peter’s head up to ensure they were face to face.

“Pretend not to be nervous. Fake it ‘til I make it. Got it.” He was hoping that Tony would believe he was just nervous at the prospect of dancing with Agosti. He didn’t want him knowing that the real reason he was panicking was because he was currently being tightly held by the man he couldn’t get out of his dreams no matter how hard he tried.

Tony chuckled lightly. “Just relax,” Tony reiterated softly. It was only then that Peter realized how stiff he was standing in the other man’s arms. He was so paranoid he was going to do something wrong with Tony that he was too afraid to move. Against his better judgement, he loosened his stance and relaxed into the feeling of Tony holding him. “There you go,” he said quietly.

Peter did his best to mimic Mr. Stark’s foot movement and try not step on his feet. Each time Peter would look down for an extended period of time, Tony would gently raise the boy’s chin back up. “Don’t rely on watching your feet. Ties back to the whole looking down looks bad thing.”

“Then how the heck am I supposed to not step on your feet?” Peter asked, looking at his teacher with frustration.

“By focusing on your partner to guide you for starters.” They began to move again, this time with Peter doing his best to not look at his feet and instead feeling the different ways Tony was leading him. After they started to move smoother, Tony gave him a proud grin. “Great. Much better.”

Peter tried his best to ignore the words of praise. Any praise he received from the older man always went straight to his head. And by head, I mean dick. He was grateful it wasn’t too over the top considering how close in proximity they were. He was having a hard enough time fending off arousal from the way Tony’s thumb was rubbing circles absentmindedly on his hip. He was almost certain that the man didn’t know he was doing it, but that didn’t stop Peter from going crazy.

His dialed up to 11 senses were being so saturated with all things Tony that he was finding it difficult to concentrate. Tony’s eyes were unbelievably focused on him, almost like he was trying to figure out the answer to a puzzle. All he could smell was the same cologne that Mr. Stark always used. And yet, despite being overwhelmed, Peter had never felt like he belonged anywhere else as much as he did in Tony’s arms.

“Good. You’re doing a great job. Let’s try it the other way now,” Tony said, changing the position of there hands while maintaining the same unbearable level of closeness. “I think it’s unlikely that Agosti wouldn’t want to lead, but just in case. Always a good idea to learn how to take control.” A certain roughness in his voice fell upon the boy’s ears.

Peter hated himself at that moment. He wasn’t sure why he had such an intense desire to be controlled and possessed by Tony, but the mere thought of it after hearing his last sentence in that voice caused Peter’s cock to twitch with interest. Normally it wouldn’t have mattered; just a quick twitch, happens all the time. Unfortunately, in their current close proximity, there was a very strong possibility that Tony could feel the movement against him.

Peter’s cheeks burned red as he tried to look anywhere other than the man’s face. He did his best to lead him in the dance, but he continued to look away. Just as before, Tony grabbed the boy by the chin and forced him to look directly at his dance partner.

This time, however, Peter was met with a much different look coming from Mr. Stark. His heart raced as he saw the older man’s dilated pupils in addition that look of hunger that Peter had only recalled seeing once before. The only reason Peter’s brain could come up with was that Mr. Stark _had_ felt him after all.

_But he’s not pulling away._

He could justify in his head that Tony wasn’t pulling away because he could sympathize about the embarrassing situation, but those eyes… The gym was brightly lit, so he couldn’t make excuses on behalf of the man this time. Not only that, but the music wasn’t loud enough to drown out the elevated heart rate he was hearing.

Overwhelmed by all the input he was experiencing, his body decided to just roll with what felt like the right thing to do at that moment. Which apparently at that moment the best idea his body could come up with was to slowly close the small amount of distance between them. He moved both hands to the man’s neck and gently pulled him into a kiss.

No amount of dreams could have prepared him for the reality of actually kissing Tony Stark. He tried to swat away all the floating panic in his brain that was screaming how terrible of an idea it was to do what he just did. He knew that no amount of begging for forgiveness could possibly redeem this friendship now. Not only that, but he couldn’t blame his actions on alcohol this time around.

The juxtaposition of soft lips and scratchy facial hair was quite possibly the best combination he had felt in his life. He had kissed a number of people over the years, both female and male, but he couldn’t remember his mouth ever fitting together as perfectly as his did with Tony’s.

Much to Peter’s surprise, once the other man seemed to process what was happening, he didn’t pull away. In fact, his arms possessively wrapped their way around Peter, holding him securely to his chest. His fingertips gripped onto him so tightly in desperation that he was certain it would bruise. Feeling emboldened by this action, the younger man decided to deepen the kiss by licking his way into the other man’s mouth. His knees nearly buckled when he felt Tony’s tongue move against his after a sharp inhale.

It was infinitely better than anything he had ever imagined.

And then, in a flash, Tony pulled apart and stepped several feet backwards, removing all contact between them.

Peter looked at the man’s tight jaw and balled up fists.

_Oh no no no no no_

_Oh god, what have I done?_

“Tony… I –”

“Don’t,” he said, cutting him off and holding his index finger up. “Just don’t, kid.”

There it was. That reminder that the man he loved would forever think of him as just a kid. Their relationship was already dying, and he had just dealt the final blow to ruin it for good. “Mr. Stark…I’m…I’m so sorry.” Peter did his best to hold back the impending tears.

“I think you should go. We’re done,” Tony insisted, keeping as far away from Peter as he could.

Peter knew what he wanted to ask, but he was too scared it would play out like the conversation between them years ago.

_“For how long?”_

_“Forever.”_

Tony took one final look at him before turning away and walking out of the gym. Alone with his thoughts, Peter slid down the wall he had backed into to sit on the ground. Feeling like an absolute idiot, he let the tears take over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it helps any, I'm going to stop picking on poor Peter for a bit after this chapter.


	6. On the Street Where You Live

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 4: The Art of Seduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been so mean to you guys and Peter, so you guys get a break with some humor in this chapter. 
> 
> This chapter features another one of those head canons I mentioned that I take as gospel: Nat is super loving/motherly with Peter and refers to him as Baby Spider. I don't know who came up with the Baby Spider bit first, but I respect the shit out of whoever did because it's adorable and I love it.
> 
> As always, thank you guys sooo so much for the comments and kudos. I absolutely love it. <3

As much as Peter wanted to stay home in his bed and wallow in misery all day, he decided not to play hookie and actually went into work the next morning. His eyes burned red from last night’s little cryfest, but he made sure to blame it on allergies to anyone who commented.

He used work as a distraction. Besides, it wasn’t like he’d run the risk of running into Tony, despite the fact that they worked for the same company. He knew that if he stayed home he would have been obsessing over the situation, trying to figure out why it had felt like Tony had kissed him back. Why would he have done that if he wanted absolutely nothing to do with him?

Peter was in the middle of his work when he felt his phone vibrate with a text. Thinking nothing out of the ordinary, he glanced at his phone to see who had sent the message. His heart thudded rapidly as he saw the name. It was Mr. Stark.

He was surprised to see a message from the man at all given the circumstances. He assumed it would return to complete silence like it had been for the four months prior to the start of this mission.

  


Training was still happening? That’s a good sign, right?

Peter foolishly let relief wash over him, feeling optimistic for the first time all day.

That optimism lasted until 6 p.m. when Peter entered the gym and Tony was nowhere to be found. Instead, he was greeted by Natasha who was looking as gorgeous as always.

As happy as he was to see her, he couldn’t help but be disappointed. “It’s been awhile, baby spider,” she said affectionately, wrapping him in a welcomed hug.

“You know I’m 22 and a lot taller than you, right?” he teased.

She rolled her eyes. “You know I can kill you and make it look like an accident, right?” she mocked back.

“Yes, I am very, very well aware of that fact,” he responded, holding his hands up in surrender.

“It’s good to see you. We thought you’d be around here more after you graduated, not less,” Nat said. “You know you can always stop by even when there’s not a mission.”

Peter’s smile fell and he rubbed the back of his neck. “If only everyone felt that way,” he replied glumly.

Her brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Peter was immensely proud of the fact that over the years of knowing Nat, he was one of the only people who could actually read her face with a high level of precision. She heavily relied on her expressions as a tool of deceit. For example, it was how she could trick others into thinking that she was much weaker than she actually was.

According to her, only Clint and her mother were able to read her as well as Peter could. It wasn’t as if he was trying; he would just get a feeling that something was amiss when he looked at her in the middle of a lie. He was fairly certain it had to do with his, ugh, ‘Peter Tingle,’ but Nat insists it’s because they’re spiders in arms.

So, when Nat painted on a confused look and asked, “What do you mean?” Peter’s senses told him that she knew exactly what he meant. He didn’t have a knack for hiding his emotions like she did (well, to everyone else), so he knew she could read him with ease like a Dr. Seuss book.

He gave her a pointed look that had “you’re not fooling me” written all over it. She sighed, forever frustrated that she couldn’t fool him no matter how hard she tried. Instead of prying further, she decided to move on to her purpose of being there. “It’s your first solo mission, huh? You excited?” she said with the same energy as a mother helping her daughter get ready for Prom.

Peter scrunched up his nose slightly. “Not really. I’m actually _really_ nervous about it, especially the closer it gets. I’ve never even run point on a mission before, let alone had a solo mission. Plus, I’m much more of a crime fighter than a spy. I mean, I’ve never had your level of training, of course.”

Nat’s eyes went dark for a moment, “Be glad you never had my level of training.”

Thaaat definitely wasn’t what he meant.

“But anyway, that’s why I’m here,” she admitted. Peter nodded at the confirmation that she wasn’t just there for socializing. He could feel Nat’s eyes analyzing him as he fully processed the fact that Mr. Stark had separated himself from the training, likely due to the events of the previous night. He knew he needed to accept the fact that he might not see Tony ever again unless the world was coming to an end.

“Great!” he said with a level of enthusiasm that he was sure Nat would be able to see through. “What’s on the agenda?”

“First up is the art of seduction,” she replied with a teasing smirk.

Peter laughed heartily at first but then immediately stopped as soon as he noticed she wasn’t laughing along. “Oh, you’re serious?” he asked with wide eyes. She nodded in return. “Why would I need to know that for this?”

This time Nat legitimately was confused. “Did I misunderstand your mission? You’re supposed to be gathering intel about the location of the auction from Gregorio Agosti, right?”

“Yes…” he replied cautiously.

“And how exactly were you going to get him to divulge that information to you?” she asked.

“By becoming good friends?” he responded, his voice inadvertently getting higher as he realized how stupid that sounded. Nat looked at him like he was being ridiculous. The truth fully sunk in, causing the boy’s eyes to enlarge yet again. He covered his eyes and bent over, similar to how he reacted seeing the cost of the ridiculous suit. “Oh god, the air quotes!” he lamented, remembering back to what Fury had said when he was briefed on the mission.

After letting that sink it, he resumed standing up straight. “They’re expecting me to _seduce_ him?” He wasn’t sure if he was about to hyperventilate. He thought it was going to be enough of a challenge to befriend the man; this was going to be a whole new level of difficulty. “Oh god, everyone is so fucked,” he breathed out, running his hands through his curls.

Natasha was really amused by his display and his adorable innocence. “Not everyone is going to be fucked, just you.”

“WHAT?” he practically yelled, still trying to somehow catch his breath. “I have—I’m going to have to fuck him?”

_Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god_

Nat knew she was going to have to intervene before Peter passed out, but he wasn’t quite at his limit yet. She grabbed him by the shoulders. “Relax, you’re clearly misunderstanding the situation.”

He exhaled in relief.

“He’s obviously a top, so you wouldn’t be fucking him, he would be fucking you.”

Peter resumed freaking out before he saw that Black Widow was stifling laughter. “You’re joking?” his voice was laced with the sound of hope.

“Yes, I’m joking.” Peter could finally breathe again. “You are not expected to sleep with Agosti; you’re just going to make him _think_ he has a chance of sleeping with you.”

“Less terrifying, but still a really bad idea,” he insisted. “So, this is a Honeypot thing?”

“Pop culture has done you some good,” she ribbed. “Yes, this is a ‘Honeypot thing.’ While that’s most commonly a female agent seducing a male target, this has the same tactics, just different…assets.” He smirked at her cheeky remark.

The thought crossed his mind that if Natasha wasn’t originally meant to teach this course, then he would have experienced seduction lessons from Tony instead. If last night’s lesson hadn’t sealed his fate, then today’s lesson would have. Peter restrained himself from thinking about how Tony would have trained him; he would save his imagination for tonight while alone in his bed.

“Now Peter, I’m going to be upfront with you about something,” she started, changing the tone to serious. “At some point during this training exercise, you may experience a certain…reaction.”

He thought for a moment before it dawned on him what she meant. “Oh my god,” he said, reverting to panic mode as his face burned red.

Nat was amused, but still tried to come across as being understanding and sympathetic. “It’s perfectly natural and completely normal.”

“This is hell. This is what hell feels like.” His head was thrown back in embarrassment, hands once again over his face. He felt like he was getting the sex talk all over again from Aunt May.

She rolled her eyes and decided to proceed, despite Peter’s internal panicking. It took him only a moment to realize how close she had gotten to him.

Her eyelids were lowered, but her eyes themselves were looking up, staring directly at him. Her eyebrows were slightly raised as she looked upward innocently, her lips slightly parted. The proximity between them continued to shrink as she leaned slightly forward, moving an open hand to gently touch his shoulder.

She grinned ever so slightly at the fact that Peter was quickly becoming mesmerized by her and was no longer panicking. He could see the stretch of her bare neck being exposed to him. Peter knew exactly what she was doing but refused to fall for it.

He could feel her body press up against him ever so slightly, both her hands now open and moving slowly to his upper chest. Not tearing her eyes away from his, she lightly bit her bottom lip, her body now completely in flush with his.

When his cock betrayed him and began to take interest, she grinned widely at him. He knew he had lost.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief as she distanced herself from him once again, looking validated. His face was beet red, but at least his problem had subsided in embarrassment. “You made it a lot longer than a lot of men,” she said as if what had happened was such a casual occurrence. “Though I think that may have been a different story if your original teacher were here.” Her smugness was still very apparent.

He groaned. He had been positive that Nat knew how he felt about Tony, but they never actually said the words aloud. Her saying it out loud just confirmed his theory. “How long have you known anyway?” he asked.

“How long have we known each other?” she countered.

“About seven years.”

She pretended to think about it for a moment. “So about seven years then,” Natasha responded coyly. He wondered how many other people knew about his intense infatuation with the older man. “What happened?”

“What did SHIELD tell you?” he asked.

“Just that Tony had to take an unexpected leave and had requested that I do your training,” she replied, her arms folded across her chest, clearly annoyed. “Though the fact that he didn’t ask me himself makes me suspicious. That and the fact that you clearly had no idea I was going to be here.”

He winced. “I’m that transparent?”

“You looked like a kicked puppy,” she responded honestly. “Which, I have chosen not to take personally.”

“You know I’m happy to see you,” Peter insisted, giving her another “oh please” face.

“That’s okay. You’ve already proven to me that you’re happy to see me,” Nat said with a smirk.

Peter groaned yet again in embarrassment. He knew he was never going to be able to live that down. Though, he was sure that there was not a person alive who could blame him for being attracted to Black Widow, especially when her goal was to seduce him.

“Which segues nicely into our lesson for today. Let’s see what you’ve got.” She adjusted her stance, almost as if she were going to train him to fight.

He looked at her amused. “You want _me_ to try to seduce _you_?” She had to be joking.

“Yep. Come on, young Padawan. Let’s see your moves.” Nat was clearly enjoying herself.

Peter groaned, knowing this was going to go so very poorly. His seduction ‘technique’ consisted of things picked up from Z-List actors on PornHub and soap operas May forced him to watch with her if he ever stayed home from school sick. He had the feeling that would do very little to help him.

His mind kept dragging back to what could have been. He could only imagine how terrified he would be if Tony had asked him to do the same.

He shook himself out to loosen up in preparation for humiliation. Looking as if he was actually trying, Peter strolled up to her with confidence. “Did somebody order a pizza with extra sausage?”

Nat’s face cycled through a number of different emotions as she attempted to process what he said. She eventually closed her eyes. “Please confirm for me that was a joke.”

“Of course it was a joke!” he replied in a high pitched voice. Then he realized something. “Wait…do people seriously do that?”

Natasha sighed in relief. “Oh, thank god. I thought we were going to have to pull an all-nighter.”

The two broke into a fit of laughter before eventually getting back to the task at hand. “Okay, for real this time.” She motioned for him to approach her.

With a sigh, he moved toward her slowly. He did his best to replicate some of the moves she had used on him. He made sure to maintain eye contact and gave a sly smirk. “Hey, how’s it going?” Peter asked in a deeper than usual voice. He really was trying this time, but he still felt ridiculous.

When he had finished, Nat nodded. “Okay, not bad.” Peter exhaled in relief. “I can at least work with that.” Although he still knew she could kill him in a matter of seconds, he appreciated her gentle demeanor.

“One of the first things to note about the art of seduction at the initial approach is that it’s 90% body language and only 10% actual words to show someone that you’re interested,” Nat explained.

“You did well on the eye contact, that’s very important. Your smile was good. You will need to be aware of your stance; no clenched hands or folded arms. Your body should be facing him, even your feet.” Nat proceeded to gently move him about to get him into an appropriate position.

“I’m going to be honest with you again.” Peter wasn’t fond of what she said after that the first time, so he was fairly sure he was going to hate whatever she said next. “I’ve met Agosti once before; he’s the type that gets off on having power. Even though you could very easily break him, your seduction approach is going to have to be…” her eyes danced around to show that she was trying to think of the right wording. “…submissive.”

There was that word again. He was a little surprised that when Nat said it, he wasn’t affected by it at all. The word didn’t burn him in the pit of his belly like it did when Mr. Stark said it.

“Mr. Sta—Tony said that I need to be confident, not submissive,” Peter explained in confusion.

“When your presenting yourself as Peter the billionaire, absolutely. Your confidence level needs to be through the roof. However, your flirting technique needs to have a different approach,” Nat clarified. Peter’s head was spinning as he attempted to wrap his head around the contradicting ideologies. “You should stand straight and tall to exude power, but you need to appear sexually vulnerable. Things like biting your lip or subtly exposing your neck are a good start.”

The two spent the half hour going over various strategies he should use. He had a master’s degree in biomechanical engineering and yet this is what turned his brain into mush.

“Much, much better,” Natasha told him with pride in her voice as he finished his attempt to flirt with her. “You’ll do great. I’m sure it’ll be even easier since Agosti is just your type.”

Peter knit his brow. “My type?”

“You seriously don’t see the resemblance?” Nat stared at him dumbfounded.

“Resemblance? To Tony?”

“He’s a middle age powerful Italian billionaire with dark hair and a goatee. Throw on a pair of sunglasses and you’ve got a great Tony Stark impersonator,” she explained, still incredibly surprised that Peter looked legitimately confused.

Master’s degree in biomechanical engineering and Peter still hadn’t picked up on that. He felt a little self-conscious about her reading him so well. He was actually a little offended too. “That’s not why I’m—I don’t care about the power or the money with Tony,” he muttered.

Nat’s face relaxed as she realized he was interpreting her words incorrectly. “Oh, I know, Peter,” she told him sympathetically as she lightly stroked his chin for a brief moment. Whenever the trained assassin ever acted like this, Peter was always reminded of May. “There are several rich, powerful men out there that would be much more well-adjusted and easier to deal with than Tony Stark.” Her teasing made Peter smile. It was very true.

“Really? Do you have any of their phone numbers?” Peter joked back, making the gorgeous spy laugh in return.

“Okay, Pete, let’s move on. I’m going to teach you some dancing now,” Natasha said, moving him to get into position.

“Oh, we already went over that part,” Peter explained.

The woman looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“That was yesterday’s lesson,” he responded carefully. He tried not to think too much about the session as it still stung.

That didn’t alleviate her confusion. “Yesterday’s lesson? You’ve had a lesson before?”

Now Peter was the one who was confused. “Yeah…?” They stared at each other, unsure why they weren’t on the same page. “Tony has been training me all week on how to act the part; SHIELD”s orders.”

Her eyebrows were raised as she looked mildly amused by his words. “And what all have you learned?”

The boy couldn’t figure out why Nat hadn’t been briefed on any of this. He understood that her involvement was a last-minute change, but he still thought she should know where he was with his training. “The first day we went to Tony’s tailor for me to get measured, some ridiculously overpriced shoe store, a jewelry store to get a watch. The second day was him teaching me to walk, talk, and act like a billionaire. Yesterday he taught be how to slow dance, or whatever you call it. Why are you laughing?” He had watched her face evolve from curious to pure delight as he spoke.

“Peter, tonight’s training criteria was the only training SHIELD required. It was a planned three-hour session compiled of seduction techniques, dance, etiquette, and a very brief rundown of your expectations for Saturday.” She was loving this. “Standard protocol is for SHIELD to use your measurements detected from the security body scanner you had to go through to enter the facility, that way they can get what you need to wear.”

Peter felt lightheaded as he tried to comprehend what she was saying. He had spent triple the amount of time with Tony than what was required. Mr. Stark had to have known that. If he was so desperate to not be around Peter, why did he spend all the extra time with him? Tony had argued with Fury about taking the assignment, so what game is he trying to play?

The boy sat down on a nearby chair and held his head in his hands. This weird back and forth that Tony was doing was infuriating. He argued about having to spend time with Peter, but then sets it up so they spend extra time together. He makes it an effort to avoid all contact with Peter, but then keeps touching him. He kisses Peter back but then quickly pulls away and quits the mission.

_What the fuck does he want with me?_


	7. Intermission (Overture Reprise)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you Tony's POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello people! 
> 
> Hopefully this finds you well. 
> 
> I wanted to wait until Monday to post this since for some reason my stories never do well comment/kudo-wise when I post on the weekend. But! I'm an impatient person, so I threw caution to the wind and decided to post the new chapter anyway!
> 
> I know that once again some of you may be outraged at the title of this chapter. Yes, Intermission is appropriate, but the music introducing the second act is traditionally called the "Entr'acte," rather than "Overture Reprise." I know, I know!
> 
> But let's be real, an Entr'acte _is_ a reprise of the Overture. And since this chapter, Intermission, is a reprise of the chapter, Overture, but from Tony's POV, you can understand where I'm coming from. There is method to my madness! 
> 
> Now you'll learn about Tony's side of the story in the first chapter. I won't be doing the whole story again in Tony's POV, just this chapter and the next chapter because I think it's important to understand what craziness is going on in Tony's head. 
> 
> Also, Fury is fun to write.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your beautiful comments and kudos! I greatly appreciate it!!

Tony didn’t appreciate being summoned to SHIELD on a Sunday morning. He had much more important things to do with his time, like not being at SHIELD for starters.

But whatever. No one could say he wasn’t a team player or shit like that. Woo hoo. Go team.

He had just exited the elevator and headed toward Fury’s office when someone caught his eye, sitting anxiously on one of the nearby chairs.

“Hi, Mr. Stark,” came a familiar, meek voice.

_Fuck._

Why was Peter here? More importantly, why was Peter here alone?

“Oh, uh, hey kid,” he responded, looking around the waiting area for any others.

SHIELD has explicit orders from Tony to only use Spider-Man for group missions. Considering he was the only other person there, it was clear that the others wouldn’t be involved. After all, Tony was always the last to arrive to briefings.

“Um…any idea why we’re here?” the boy innocently asked.

He wished he knew. He wished he had been warned it would just be him and Peter here so he could have made up some kind of excuse to get out of it. Well, a better excuse than the one he had already tried on Fury when he initially received the invitation.

“No clue,” Tony replied honestly, trying to distract himself with his phone to prevent him from looking directly at the boy with the wide doe eyes.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before they were summoned into Fury’s office. After making an inappropriate joke and Fury calling him a pretentious, billionaire dick (par for the course), Tony watched as a picture of a familiar man appeared on the screen.

“Gregorio Agosti,” Peter eagerly answered. Tony soured at the mention of the man.

“Correct. Gregorio Agosti; Entrepreneur, Billionaire…” Fury changed the image to a picture of Agosti shaking hands with some seemingly shady individuals. “Alien arms dealer.”

_Dickwad._

“If you think that I can get him to spill intel at our next billionaire’s secret club meeting, then I hate to disappoint,” Tony sneered with folded arms. “He and I aren’t exactly ‘BFFs.’” There was the understatement of the year.

He listened half-heartedly as Fury and Hill explained their quandary. “The trouble is we have no idea where the auction is or what tech he has in his possession.”

“Then get one of your spies to figure it out,” Tony said.

_Problem solved. Let’s go home._

“In the last four months of surveillance, we have only seen Agosti react positively to _one_ of our people,” Maria said hesitantly. Tony watched as the two SHIELD members turned their focus to Peter who was quietly standing on the opposite side of the large room from him.

Despite the distance, the older man could still visibly see as Peter’s cheeks turned a bright shade of red. “Wha—What? Me? “

Tony seethed at the implication and thought back to the evening in question.

It had been a gala for something. Poverty? Otters? He couldn’t remember; they all sort of blended in together after a while. Whatever it was for, Tony had known that there was going to be a vast array of CEOs from several high-end tech conglomerates present, which is why he had brought Peter in the first place.

The young man had a constant look of awe with his enlarged eyes and gaped mouth. He couldn’t stop beaming with excitement each and every time Tony introduced him to a new mogul. While it was very apparent that he was nervous, he managed to hold his own by proving to them how remarkably bright he was. The older man’s heart swelled hearing Peter ramble off what he had accomplished in the lab that week that could put shame to the other employees who had been top of their fields longer than he had been alive.

Each stuck-up businessman present looked at Tony enviously for having an employee with so much potential. At first it made Tony proud, but that was quickly squashed when he remembered the reason he had brought Peter to the gala in the first place; he needed to get rid of him.

The older man knew that one of these piranhas would inevitably take the bait and offer Peter a job at their company promising a better position, better pay, and better benefits than what Stark Industries was currently giving him.

Paired with his master’s degree, unbeknownst to him, Peter was going to be fast-tracked to a high position at SI. He would be given full reign of his own lab, his own team, and a salary that would make the boy’s head spin. Those who would have claimed nepotism could have just listened to Peter speak and know he was more than qualified.

He would have been right at Tony’s side.

But then that became the problem.

He couldn’t have Peter at his side. He couldn’t _trust_ himself with Peter at his side.

So, when Peter eventually started at Stark Industries, he was put at an entry level position with an entry level pay to get him by until he finally came to his senses and realized that he deserved so much better.

He had already been at SI for five months by the time they went to the gala. Five months and no complaints. Tony had never imagined it would take this long. He thought that the boy would be out the door during orientation. He had forgotten how absurdly loyal he was. Tony brought him to the gala to give him the extra push he needed.

Peter was the perfect employee. He would focus all his time and energy to help others on his team who may have been struggling since he always finished his work early. He could talk circles around some of the more tenured R&D people in the building. Everyone loved him. Even the people he inadvertently made look like idiots loved him.

Of course they loved him; it was Peter.

There again lied the problem.

Tony had seen it happen out of the corner of his eye. As much as it pained him, his subconscious always seemed to be hypervigilant to Peter’s location if he was nearby. The older man was talking to the CEO of Oscorp when he saw the younger man trip over his own feet. He twitched for a moment, almost as if his body thought it was going to bolt across the entire gala to catch him.

He was initially relieved to see that someone had managed to grab the boy before he fell. Once he saw who had caught him, though, Tony could feel a burn in his chest that he had become all too familiar with of as of late. The only word he could think of as he watched Gregorio Agosti gently stabilize Peter was…

_Mine._

It was a sickness. A horrible, childish sickness that Tony could not get rid of no matter how hard he tried. He knew he had a jealous side to him, that was not unfamiliar territory. Despite his arrogance, he had some insecurities, which were pretty normal.

This wasn’t jealousy. No, this was far stronger than the jealousy. Jealousy was the grumpiness he felt when Aldrich Killian was flirting with Pepper.

This was about possession. As far as he was concerned, Peter Parker belonged to him and only him.

Tony was well aware of how disturbed he sounded. For the past few years, he felt like he was split in half. Half of him wanted Peter to be all his no matter the consequences while the other half seemed to have a conscience with the rationality that any relationship with the boy would be toxic.

At first, he thought he could control it, but it just kept getting worse the more he saw Peter. His bright smile, his snarky remarks, his unbelievable heart of gold, not to mention his brilliance; it all tortured him.

As much as it hurt Tony each and every time, he had to ignore and neglect Peter. He knew it was all for the best.

He watched Peter and Agosti closely, knowing that he shouldn’t do anything to interfere. Maybe this forced interaction would do some good. Gregorio’s company was very different from SI, but he was sure that the boy would do well. Tony tried not to think about the business talk the two men were discussing. He forced laughter when Osborn made a cheesy joke, shifting his focus back to the conversation he was _actually_ part of while still aware of what was happening in the distance.

Tony’s fist clenched when he saw out of the corner of his eye that Agosti gently touched Peter’s shoulder as they laughed lightly together. The boy was likely oblivious to the other man’s advances, but Tony knew the look the other man had all too well.

When he saw Agosti slip something in Peter’s pocket, likely his phone number, Tony was furious.

Therefore, it was only natural for him to hate the man with a passion.

“There’s a gala taking place this upcoming Saturday. You’re going to be there. You will act the part and…’befriend’ Gregorio using whatever means necessary in order to obtain an invitation to that auction,” Fury explained to Peter, breaking Tony from his thoughts.

“Firstly, kind of worried about the use of air quotes there.”

So was Tony. He knew exactly what Nick meant. He wanted Peter to flirt and seduce the other man to get him to spill his secrets. As much as he hated it, he trusted Fury’s judgement that this was the only way they saw fit to obtain that intel.

_But why am I here?_

“Secondly, I don’t know the first thing about being a ‘billionaire business mogul’!” Peter insisted.

“Ah, shit,” Tony said with a sigh, finally understanding SHIELD’s invitation. He agreed with their assessment in Peter having training. The boy hadn’t had any of the covert mission training because he wasn’t a spy. He was the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man who helped old ladies cross the street and kicked the occasional ass. He had absolutely no idea about how to act like a billionaire, especially considering he thought something that was $100 was ‘expensive.’ And lastly, Tony couldn’t even imagine Peter actively _trying_ to seduce someone (though he had done it inadvertently to Tony plenty of times).

“You don’t,” Fury said pointing to Peter. “But he does,” he finished, now pointing at Tony.

“No. Definitely not happening,” Tony replied firmly shaking his head. “I’ve got way too much going on right now.” It was his go-to excuse. There was no way Tony was doing a one on one training session with Peter to go over how to act like a bigshot and how to seduce a guy who wasn’t him.

“Lucky for us, Pepper was happy to confirm your availability for the next week,” Agent Hill said with a grin that clearly showed her inner thought of ‘Check mate, bitch.’

_Et tu, Pepper?_

Tony and his ex-wife were actually incredibly civil with one another, which he was very grateful for. They had handled the divorce with a surprising level of maturity (well, surprising for Tony). There was a mutual understanding that they would always love each other blahblahblah but they wanted two very different things.

Pepper had already remarried, which was great because her new beau made her insanely happy. He liked seeing her happy. However, despite her being with someone else, she still felt the need to involve herself in Tony’s personal life.

One thing in particular Pepper was passionate about was his relationship with Peter. She insisted that Tony spend more time with Peter. She’d ramble off something about needing a male role model (well, as good as he was going to get) to look up to and shit like that. She severely disapproved of him avoiding Peter like a disease.

But that’s probably because she didn’t know that he was plagued by visions of fucking Peter over his lab table for the last two years of their marriage. He imagined she would have disapproved of that a bit more.

“I don’t even work for you,” Tony pushed, hoping that would miraculously get him out of it.

“Right. You’re a consultant,” Fury said gesturing toward Peter. “So, _consult_.”

Stark attempted to wrack his brain, not really remembering what his current affiliation with SHIELD was. He knew that he started as a consultant…but was he still a consultant? Didn’t he, like, own SHIELD? He was pretty sure he owned the building they were in, but he wasn’t sure if he actually owned SHIELD. Tony lost track of all the things he owned. He’d have to check that out later.

Clearly this back and forth wasn’t working. Not wanting Peter to overhear, he was compelled to ask, “A word?” to Fury. Stepping to the side of the room, far enough away that the boy’s super hearing couldn’t listen, Tony fought his case.

“I’m not going to do it,” he told Fury simply.

Fury raised an eyebrow at him when he didn’t continue speaking. “You seriously made me waste my time walking over here just to tell me what you already told me?” He was clearly annoyed, but that wasn’t anything new.

Tony grumbled, trying to organize his excuses better. He obviously couldn’t tell him the truth. That simply wasn’t an option. Though, he imagined that would sure as hell be effective.

The billionaire sighed, once again massaging his brow. Fury, seeing his odd behavior, had some semblance of what was going on in the man’s head, albeit a lot tamer than the truth. “Let me lay it out for you, Stark. The kid is doing the mission whether you like it or not. So, the question is, do you want to keep him safe by helping him and making sure he’s prepared or do you want to throw that fucking ray of sunshine to the goddamn wolves because you were too stubborn to deal with whatever personal problems you’ve got?”

Tony felt like he was a child being reprimanded by an adult for drawing on the walls. “Truth be told, you’re the best chance the kid has in completing this mission unscathed. Now I can get one of my guys to try and train him, but I can tell you right now that we’re not paying them enough to make them think like a billionaire.”

Fury could tell that he was successfully breaking through to Tony. “Three hours. That’s all we expect from you. Just teach him some moves, show him the ropes, and all that. Then go back to doing whatever it is that you do.”

The devil on Tony’s shoulder had corrupted the angel into thinking this would be a good idea. Keeping Peter safe was a good thing, no matter what way he looked at it. If the older man had the capability of helping Peter, that would be a greater priority than trying to avoid him, right? And if he’s going to train the kid, then he might as well do it right and get him all the training he could possibly need, no matter how much time he was going to have to spend with him.

Deep inside, he knew he would somehow royally fuck this up. He had to try, though. He needed to be the wise mentor that Peter needed, not the creepy, broken old man who couldn’t stop himself from staring anytime the boy wet his pink lips.

“I’ll have a car pick you up tomorrow at five,” he muttered to Peter, still avoiding the boy’s shining wide eyes. “Always a pleasure,” he smirked sarcastically to Fury and Hill before putting on his sunglasses and exiting the office.

_I’m so fucked._


	8. Just You Wait (Reprise)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reprise of the chapter "Just You Wait" from Tony's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! 
> 
> Thank you so much for all the truly wonderful comments and kudos. You guys are truly amazing. Makes me so happy! :) 
> 
> This is the only other chapter that's going to be primarily Tony's POV. You'll start to hear Tony's thoughts in later chapters in addition to Peter's, but for the most part this is Peter's story and POV. 
> 
> Sorry for the short chapter. I'm hoping this chapter better explains to you all why Tony has acted the way he has up to this point, though it might just cement the belief that he's an idiot. Either way works! 
> 
> For those of you who notice, this story went from being 10 chapters to 11. This is not because it got longer (it's already been written) but because I apparently don't know how to count. Oh well! Better more than less. 
> 
> Enjoy!!

Things weren’t always weird between them. Quite the opposite, in fact. Once Peter got older and graduated high school, the two men spent a great deal of time together. Any time the boy wasn’t in class, studying, or hanging out with May, he was in the lab at Tony’s side.

Tony assumed it had to do with the fact that MJ and Ned were both at separate colleges in different parts of the country from Peter. He had offered multiple times for Peter to use his private jet to go visit them or vice versa, but he rarely took him up on that offer. On many occasions, Peter would instead video chat with them while at the compound or in Tony’s private lab when Tony reminded him to take a break.

Peter was just as stubborn as Tony was about removing himself away from a project to take a break. He loved to see how passionate and creative the younger man was as he flitted around the lab in between Tony’s projects and his own.

The first inkling that something was wrong was during Peter’s freshman year of college when it was casually brought to his attention during an Avenger get together that Peter had a boyfriend. Up until that point, he was under the impression that the younger man was 100% heterosexual. So, when Sam and Wanda ribbed him about pictures of him and his new beau on his Instagram, Tony was more than surprised.

What was even more startling to Tony, though, was the wave of jealousy that unexpectedly washed over him. As time went on, he tried to ignore it, not thinking much about it. Maybe he was just envious of the amount of time Peter was spending with _Andrew_ rather than being at the compound? He didn’t see his science buddy nearly as much.

It wasn’t until Peter broke up with Andrew that Tony definitely knew something was very wrong. When Pete had casually mentioned the breakup, he was disturbed to feel the flutter in his stomach and the huge relief that enveloped him.

That was not an appropriate reaction for a mentor to have, no matter how he tried to spin it in his head. It was especially inappropriate considering said mentor was married.

He knew the feeling would go away. It was just some quirky little “crush” that was likely just part of some midlife crisis he was having. That was all.

Days turned into weeks, months, and inevitably years.

In Peter’s Junior year of college, Tony and Pepper divorced. It wasn’t entirely because of Peter, of course. There were a number of factors that went into that decision. For starters, Pepper still wanted him to quit being Iron Man, which just wasn’t something he could do.

He’d be lying if he said Peter wasn’t a part of it, though. Tony had tried for nearly two years to do whatever he could to get the man out of his head, especially so he could focus on Pepper and be the husband she deserved. He would lie awake at night wondering what the fuck was wrong with him. Why the hell would he be obsessed with his mentee when he had a gorgeous, intelligent, amazing woman sleeping in his bed right next to him?

_Because it’s Peter._

While he knew there would never be a future where the two men could be together, it wasn’t fair to Pepper that her husband was thinking about someone else in bed.

After the divorce, Tony entered the dating scene for a while focusing solely on dating men. It had been many decades since his last roll in the hay with a guy, but perhaps that was what his subconscious was actually trying to tell him he needed when he kept coming back to Peter.

Much to his dismay, it didn’t help. His brain kept circling back to the spiderling. It made him want to rip his hair out. Each and every lab session, movie night, dinner, and mission would drive him batshit crazy.

It eventually got to the point where Tony just gave up and accepted that it would just be the new normal for him. Sure, he was probably doomed to not have a meaningful romantic relationship ever again, but at least he had his friendship with Peter to make him happy.

So, his focus shifted from being the best husband Pepper deserved to the best friend and mentor that Peter deserved. Yes, he knew that one day Peter would eventually realize he didn’t need Tony anymore. And yes, it would probably kill him when Peter inevitably fell in love, got married, and had a family. But until then, he could enjoy the time he had left, doing his best to be Peter’s teacher and not some pervy old man.

The world as he knew it came crashing down the night of Happy and May’s wedding.

Tony knew that Peter had idolized him starting at a very young age. There may have even at one point been a semblance of a fanboy crush. Eventually that adoration plateaued into a mutual respect. Every now and again, though, Peter would look at him with wide eyes of amazement and awe. The fluttering in his stomach would feed on those looks.

That wasn’t the look Tony saw when he stared into the boy’s eyes as Peter daringly laced their fingers together. The eyes staring back at him weren’t the sparkling, naive eyes of a kid with a crush. The eyes staring back at him were those of a man who knew Tony inside and out and still fell head over heels. Someone who had seen Tony Stark fuck up over and over again but refused to run away.

When Peter had asked him to be his date, Tony’s heart shattered. In a normal world, those words would have been sweet music to his ears. He would have wrapped his arms around the other man and would have never let go.

But this was reality. This was a situation where a broken, distraught, drunk old man who wrecked every relationship he ever had was stupidly in love with a boy who was utterly perfect in every way and had his whole future ahead of him. He would destroy him.

Tony had been able to function around Peter as well as he had because he knew the younger man would never reciprocate his feelings. Now nothing but his own flimsy self-control prevented him from taking him right then and there to see how loud he could get the younger man to scream as Tony thrust into him.

He knew he had to stop this immediately. As much as it killed him, he pulled his hand away and declined the invitation. He watched painfully as Peter’s heart visibly broke in front of him.

The words felt like sand in his mouth as he pushed him to take his aunt’s apartment. The idea of Peter living at the compound had always made him smile. But the thought of Peter living down the hallway from him left open too many temptations.

Tony knew it was for the best. He kept telling himself it was for the best.

Better to rip off the bandage now while the infatuation was fresh.

He knew he would have to distance himself a little at first to give Peter some time to wake up and realize his foolish mistake. Then, everything could go back to normal and it would all be perfectly fine. Yes, Tony would likely still painfully be in love with the boy, but at least Peter would get away unscathed and never the wiser.

After Tony fixed everything, then Peter could live at the compound.

Days, weeks, months – It wasn’t working.

Tony eventually concluded that he had to destroy his relationship with Peter to keep him safe. Completely sever ties with him. He needed for Peter to hate him so he could finally realize how much better he would be without him.

Truth was, nobody hated Tony more than Tony hated himself.


	9. Show Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter puts his new skills to the test

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers! 
> 
> As always, thank you all so very much for the comments and kudos. I so greatly adore them as they make my whole day brighter. 
> 
> Just a btw, I chose the name MCU Enterprises not because I'm lazy but because it seemed safe. 
> 
> I have no idea what I'm doing. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Peter was nervous. He would even go as far as to say he was the most nervous he had ever been in his 22 years of living. He was more nervous than he had been the first time fighting a criminal as Spider-Man, when he revealed his identity to May, or when he had stupidly kissed Tony freaking Stark.

He attempted to calm himself in the back of the chauffeured car, taking deep breaths as he ran through all of his mental notes on his way to the gala.

Staring at his mirror before he left the apartment, he knew he looked the part. Despite no longer being part of the training, Mr. Stark still had all the ridiculously overpriced suit and accessories delivered to his apartment the day before. He felt pitiful as he searched through the merchandise looking for some sort of communication from his former mentor. Maybe a note that said good luck? But of course, there was nothing of the sort.

He very carefully tried on the suit after work the day before, treating it delicately as if he was worried he would somehow break it. Tony had been right; the suit was unbelievably soft on his skin and fit like a glove. Not only that, but he had to admit that he looked _good_. That certainly helped considering he was supposed to be pretending to be overly confident.

Nat, sensing that Peter needed some moral support after his original teacher abandoned him, went to his apartment earlier in the day to help him get ready. She helped him tame his curls using some of the hair product included in the box of toiletries Tony had given him. And although she wasn’t particularly fond of which of the colognes he chose, she was so supportive every step of the way. She even helped him figure out the proper knot Tony had told him to use for his tie.

_“Why the fuck are there so many ways to tie a tie?”_

Time and time again, she reminded him a lot of Aunt May, which he was so grateful for.

He wasn’t sure how his real aunt would act if she knew he was about to go attempt to seduce a billionaire arms dealer. He believed that she would probably end up snorting from laughing so hard at the thought of Peter trying to seduce someone. Finding out the guy was an arms dealer though… No way in hell was he ever going to tell her, even if everything went according to plan.

When Peter stepped out of the car, he had to use the door as support because his legs were shaking beneath him. Giving himself an internal pep talk, he made his way into the gala. He tried to remember all of his training as he moved through the bustling crowd.

_Walk tall. Keep your head up. Refrain from having a panic attack._

A part of him had been concerned that someone there might recognize him as Tony’s employee and ruin the whole mission. Tony had assured him early on that they wouldn’t recognize him with his new look, attitude, and the fact that their heads are likely way too far up their own asses.

It took him a lot less time to locate Gregorio Agosti than he thought it would. He assumed he would need to make a full loop around the building first. The handsomely dressed billionaire was off to the side of the crowd, talking with a much older, stoutly gentleman. The tech in the SHIELD contacts Peter was wearing identified the other man as Horatio Jacobson, a business colleague of Agosti. That explained why the recluse was busy socializing with his familiar cohort.

To prevent any suspicion, he was instructed to not approach the man. Instead, he was to stand off to the side to lure him in remotely. Since Gregorio didn’t do a whole lot of socializing at events like these, he was commonly seen people watching instead. So, as planned, Peter stood near the bar within eyeshot, pretending to do his own people watching.

It took mere minutes before Peter’s gaze met Agosti’s from across the room. Knowing he had the man’s attention, he attempted to act like he was embarrassed for getting caught staring. He shyly smiled, looking at the man through his eyelashes just as he was taught.

Returning the smile, Agosti excused himself from his business partner and made his way straight to Peter. The boy was relieved that things were going so well so far.

“Good job, Parker,” he heard Maria Hill quietly in his ear.

“Peter, right?” he asked with a smile that could have been featured on toothpaste commercials. Nat was right about one thing, at least he didn’t need to pretend to be attracted to the older man.

“Excellent memory,” Peter complimented. “Gregorio?” he asked in return, obviously knowing the answer.

“Very good. I’m glad to hear I made an impression,” the billionaire responded, very clearly flirting.

“How could I forget?” Peter said, doing his hardest to sound flirty and not like a cheesy idiot.

Agosti looked very pleased with this response. “Though, I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed when you never called.”

Peter had come prepared with an answer for that question, knowing it would likely come up. They had decided the best approach would be to play dumb. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I gave you my number but never heard from you. I just assumed you weren’t interested, but now you’re here saying such pretty little things.” His deep voice was like silk with his rich Italian accent.

The younger man boldly moved closer to the taller gentleman, causing him to stare upward, hopefully appearing as innocent as possible. “I definitely would have remembered _you_ giving me your number. I can assure you that we would not be having this conversation if I had.” Peter wasn’t sure that line even made sense, but Agosti seemed to eat it up. Peter felt ridiculous but empowered.

_Fuck you, Mrs. Peterson, for casting me as a tree in our 3 rd grade school play because I “can’t act.” _

“So, Peter, what is it that you do?” Gregorio asked, diving into deeper small talk.

Peter cleared his throat, knowing he had to make this lie as believable as possible. “I’m the CEO of MCU Enterprises. We’re a tech conglomerate specializing in defense manufacturing.” He swallowed hard, hoping that Agosti believed him. It occurred to him too late that SHIELD told him specifically _not_ to mention the defense manufacturing upfront like that, but it just sort of spilled out. Oh well.

Gregorio looked very surprised, clearly not expecting that from the younger man. A part of him looked impressed, but Peter could see the glimmer of suspicion. “Defense manufacturing? Really?”

He did his best to remain calm. “Someone had to fill the void in the market when Stark Industries pulled out,” Peter said casually, not mentioning the fact that he was seven when that had occurred. Agosti smirked with an understanding.

After a moment, Agosti said, “How rude of me. Let me get you a drink. What will you have?” he asked with his charming smile.

“Whatever you’re having,” Peter answered, still internally freaking out. When the other man disappeared to the bar, he felt compelled to exhale. He knew Agosti was suspicious, but that was part of the plan. If everything was going accordingly, the older man was using his phone at the bar doing a search for “Peter Parker” and “MCU Enterprises.”

If he did so, it would pull up SHIELD’s vast array of fake news, articles, pictures, everything that could possibly corroborate his lies. He would be able to read all about Peter Parker, the young CEO of MCU Enterprises who took control of the company after his father passed away about a year ago. The business was founded several years ago by Peter’s grandfather. With the inheritance of his father’s fortune along with the assets from the company, the boy was currently one of the youngest billionaires in the world.

SHIELD insisted that the man likely wouldn’t care that Peter’s origin story sounded a lot like Tony Stark’s. They chose that background to explain how he had amassed such a large amount of money while remaining out of Gregorio’s scope. As long as they avoided any implication that Peter was a superhero, he likely wouldn’t even notice the similarities.

Much to Peter’s relief, when Agosti returned with their drinks, all suspicion had been wiped clean from his face and he resumed flirting with Peter. They spent the next hour joking back and forth. Peter made sure to every now and again touch the other man, laugh at his jokes no matter how terrible, and bite his lip when he wanted to appear vulnerable.

The younger of the two managed to hold his own when discussing his “business” and its tech, rarely having to rely on the voices in his ear feeding him facts.

His brain cycled through all of the instructions Tony and Nat had given him throughout the past week. Agosti was eating up all the bullshit Peter was feeding him. Not to mention, based on the current placement of his hand, he was pretty sure he was thinking about eating Peter all up as well.

Peter couldn’t imagine how well this was going!

Just as Gregorio moved to whisper something in Peter’s ear, everything fell apart.

“Evening, gentlemen,” said a deep, incredibly familiar voice approaching from behind Peter’s line of vision. The boy could swear his heart completely stopped for moment as he attempted to wrap his mind around this new development.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY HEAR ME OUT. 
> 
> In all my stories I've never really had a cliffhanger before, so I feel like this was inevitable. 
> 
> But I mean, y'all know who it is. It's not THAT much of a cliffhanger, right? 
> 
> Other than why the ever living fuck is he there. 
> 
> Two chapters left!


	10. Without You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter just wants to take down an arms dealer. Is that really too much to ask?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello beautiful readers! 
> 
> I'm trying this whole posting on a Saturday thing again, so please continue with the comments and kudos! I love them very much and greatly appreciate them!

“Mis- Tony, what a surprise,” Peter practically squeaked, sounding like he was going through puberty again for like the third time. While he was grateful his heart started back up again, he didn’t appreciate how wildly it was now pounding in his chest.

In his earpiece, Agent Hill said exactly what Peter was thinking. “What the fuck is Stark doing here?” she hissed, likely to someone else monitoring him. “Get Romanoff.”

Peter stared daggers at Tony, trying to shoo him away with just a look of his eyes. The older man was either not understanding or not caring about the look of desperation he was receiving. “You know I can’t stay away from galas benefiting…” Peter saw as Tony’s eyes began to subtly dance around the room, trying to locate some sort of banner or sign indicating what they were there for. The younger of the three couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Gregorio, I’m assuming you’ve already met Tony,” Peter said, politely cutting him off to prevent him from further floundering.

The arms dealer (which Peter kept forgetting about that little detail) looked back and forth between the other two with mild confusion before extending his hand for Tony to shake. “A pleasure as always,” Agosti said with his charming and thick accent that just made Tony want to punch him in the face. Alternatively, they shook hands, albeit seemingly tighter than usual. Peter definitely didn’t remember bone crushing as part of handshake etiquette when Tony taught it.

Seeing the two men side by side, Peter realized that Nat had been right about him having a type. Agosti was younger and taller with darker skin and curlier hair. Apart from that, they were almost identical. He felt ridiculous not having seen it before.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Stark replied, trying to match the other billionaire’s level of charm. “I see you’ve met Peter here.”

“I have,” Gregorio agreed, maintaining his suave composure, placing his and Peter’s empty glasses on the tray of a passing by waiter. “And how is it you two know each other?” Peter knew he only asked because of the sudden tension lingering in the air.

Peter knew he shouldn’t have responded. The likelihood of Tony responding at the same time but with a different answer was far too great. He had seen it happen on plenty of sitcoms and movies enough times to know he should have stayed quiet and just waited for Tony to answer.

Unfortunately for Peter, his mouth was quicker than his brain. So, when Tony said, “Business acquaintances,” he was already saying “my father.”

Peter almost audibly sighed in frustration. He had never wanted to be rid of Mr. Stark as much as he did at that moment. “Business acquaintance through my father,” he clarified through gritted teeth, trying to avoid glaring directly at Tony.

“Father or grandfather?” Gregorio chortled to himself.

Peter had to swiftly hold back his knee jerk reaction of squinting his eyes with a scrunched-up nose to visually say “what the fuck was that?” It was clearly a gibe at Mr. Stark’s age, but it wasn’t even funny or clever. Just seemed lazy. It was as if it was created by an author with writer’s block who tried to think of a joke for days before just saying ‘fuck it.’

But all the same, Peter forced a laugh just like he was trained to. He glanced at Tony for a brief moment to see the face of a man who could obviously tell the laugh was fake, having memorized the sound of every single one of the boy’s laughs. Thankfully, though, Agosti was none the wiser.

Tony also pretended to chuckle. “A joke about my age. That’s funny. Though, that didn’t seem to make a difference when I was named Sexiest Man Alive last year,” he replied cheekily. Peter held back the urge to roll his eyes again, remembering how insufferable the other man had been when that was announced. “I don’t recall you being in the running.”

Seeing Gregorio open his mouth with a look of indignation, Peter determined it would be in everyone’s best interest if the two men parted ways. He was concerned that both men were seconds away from dropping trow to have a dick-measuring contest (though would that be so bad?). More desperate than nervous, he easily formed the words “Care to dance?” to Agosti.

After agreeing, Peter led the way to the dancefloor nearby, unfortunately still within eye range of Tony. He couldn’t get a good reading on the man’s face. Maybe it was the look of hurt or possibly irritation? For a split second, he could have sworn he looked jealous. Regardless, he refused to look at him any longer and forced himself to think about the task at hand.

_“Dancing is going to be your best opportunity to get to Agosti. It’s a way you can speak in private with him while still being out in the open. Otherwise you run the risk of others hearing or distracting him. So yes, you will be dancing with Agosti.”_

The boy hadn’t imagined that his teacher was going to be the one he needed to get away from.

Peter discreetly wiped his sweaty palms on his pants without Gregorio seeing. When the older man took his waist, he was relieved. There was no way he was going to be able to lead properly with the added distraction of Mr. Stark watching them.

_Posture straight._

_Chin up._

_Pretend not to be nervous._

_Follow the leader._

_Fake it ‘til I make it._

He continued to repeat Tony’s words to himself in his mind like a mantra as Agosti moved them around on the dancefloor. Peter was so focused on not screwing up that he had forgotten about the reason he was doing this in the first place.

Gregorio broke his concentration with a smirk. “Are you alright?” he asked, almost sounding concerned.

Peter tried to shake loose his anxieties. “Never better,” he tried to say with a returned smile. He was praying that the man would just take his panic as being flustered by the attention he was receiving, especially since they were dancing remarkably close together.

“So, you and this Stark. You’re close, no?” he asked in a deep purr. Peter recognized the look of possessiveness in his eyes, similar to the imaginary look he swore he had seen from Tony. Instead of the warmth curling in his belly, though, it just made his stomach churn. Apparently, Peter only liked the idea of being one man’s possession; this just made him ill.

He knew what Agosti was implying. He wouldn’t be surprised if he had inadvertently shown his hand by staring at Mr. Stark like a lost puppy. He was almost certain that the pathetic look of obsession on his face was why the store clerk thought the two men were together.

He tried to think his response through as quickly as possible. If he denied everything, he might lead Agosti to see it as the unrequited love it was, which could potentially ruin this whole mission. He knew his best option would be to lean into it. “We _were_ ,” Peter admitted. “But I needed someone more mature emotionally, rather than physically.” He was grateful that Maria snorted laughter into his ear, causing him to break into a much more natural, sly smile.

Gregorio matched Maria’s amusement and deemed the comment acceptable. “But enough about me, tell me more about you. You know what I do, but I know very little about your line of work,” Peter said, guiding him back to the real matter at hand.

Agosti continued to drone on about the legitimate side to his business for several minutes, much to his dismay.

“Pete, act like he’s boring you,” said a voice he recognized as Natasha’s in his ear. He tried to hide his reaction of confusion, not knowing that she was going to be monitoring him.

_No need for acting._ He wanted to respond.

He dropped his faux interest and allowed his eyes to naturally glaze over. He used hums to pretend like he was half listening. Peter didn’t fully understand what Nat’s strategy was, but it became more than apparent when Agosti whispered “And then of course there’s the alien tech we located in Norway.”

Peter’s eyes immediately sparked interest in his words. “Alien tech? Really?”

Gregorio seemed pleased with his ability to recapture the boy’s attention so quickly. “Yes, it’s quite incredible, really. Things I’ve never seen in my wildest dreams.”

_Yes, yes, yes! Hook, line, and sinker._

“That sounds fascinating,” he said enthusiastically, acting as if this was brand new information. “Our defense manufacturing segment has reversed engineered some of the alien wreckage found from the Battle of New York to implement into some of our designs. I would love to know what you’ve acquired.”

Peter hated the smug look on Agosti’s face so much that he moved into the crook of the other man’s neck. “I can show it to you,” he said in a hushed voice, now that Peter had accidentally given him better access to Peter’s ear. “I’ll be hosting an auction on most of the pieces. Well, the ones I won’t be needing. I’d love to show you the full collection, though.”

The younger man was just about to pry further to obtain a location when Agosti chuckled. He could feel his hot breath against his ear. “You know, I can see why he looks at you that way. You really are irresistible.” Peter’s brows furrowed in confusion, unsure of what he could be referring to. “He hasn’t stopped staring all this time.”

With the movements of the dance, Agosti finally moved him around enough so Peter could see Tony over Agosti’s shoulder. His heart thundered in his chest as he saw the older man with his jaw clenched, focused solely on Peter.

_What the fuck is he doing?_

“Let’s give him a show, darling,” Agosti said in a smoky voice. Before Peter could fully process what was happening, the other man moved just far enough to capture Peter’s lips unexpectedly. He couldn’t help but gasp in surprise, which the arms dealer unfortunately misinterpreted as consent to shove his tongue down Peter’s throat. He involuntarily shivered in disgust, which he was sure the other man took as passion or some shit.

After learning what his real goal was from Nat, Peter had accepted that he would likely have to kiss Gregorio at some point. But kissing him now made him think about how different it was from the kiss he shared with Tony the other night. That had been filled with a dark passion that he had never thought possible. This just reminded him of the guy he dated in college to try and get over Tony, all awkward and sloppy.

He could feel the man’s grasp tighten around him, grabbing possessively as if to tell the man from a distance that he had stolen his property away from him.

Finally, the other man pulled away, staring at Peter with lust in his eyes. Peter did his best to return the look despite feeling as far from it as ever. Sure, Agosti was attractive, but he wanted nothing more than for him to be Tony at that moment.

Speaking of, he looked in the direction of where Tony was standing to see the man storming off. “Would you—would you mind maybe getting us another drink?” Peter insisted.

“Of course,” the Italian man responded, completely oblivious to Peter’s disgust.

“Great! I’m—uh—I’m going to go to the bathroom,” he said, not sure what else to use as an excuse other than that. He remembered specifically being told that it was improper to say exactly that, but at that moment he didn’t care, he just needed to get away.

Agosti planted a kiss on his cheek before making his way toward the bar, an oily smirk still plastered to his face.

As quickly as he could without causing a scene, Peter headed in the direction he had seen Tony flee. He found himself heading out to a balcony where he saw Tony hunched over, hands splayed on the railing. Fortunately, he was alone. Before speaking, he muted his earpiece.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Peter started, beyond frustrated by the situation.

“Kid—you don’t…”

“No, the adult is talking,” Peter snapped back. In a normal situation, this would have caused Tony to smirk at the dose of karma he was receiving as Peter used his own words against him. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, Tony, but I’m done.”

The semi-suave façade Peter had projected minutes ago with Gregorio was quickly crumbling. After a moment of silence, he finally asked, “Why? Wh—why are you even here?”

He hadn’t noticed before, but Tony looked like a wreck that hadn’t slept in days.

No, that wasn’t it.

Peter had seen what he looked like working in his lab for days straight without any sleep. This looked like a man who was starving for sleep that would never come. “To be honest, I—I don’t even know.”

As much as he pitied his look of despair, Peter had finally had enough. He was tired of feeling sorry for himself. All the hurt and pain he endured over the past year was bubbling to the surface and spilling over. He was done.

Shaking his head, he laughed at his own grief. After a few moments of silence, he decided to lay all his cards on the table. “You know, for years I was so—so _desperate_ for your attention. And somehow, I miraculously had it. I thought for a while that we had _actually_ become really good friends and that maybe you saw me as an equal. I thought that maybe that was enough. And then—." He laughed again, determined not to shed a single tear. “And then I made a stupid— _stupid_ mistake thinking for a moment that you might actually feel the same way about me that I did about you.

“One mistake and our entire friendship went up in smoke because of me. So, you left me. I fucked up, so you left me.” Tony’s eyes moved around rapidly as he attempted to fully process what Peter was saying. He looked incredibly confused but remained silent. “Then SHIELD forces you to waste your precious time on me and I fuck it up, yet again, by kissing you. And just like before, you left me. Fine, I get it, you don’t care—about me.

“But now you’re here to do what? To fuck with my head?” Peter looked at the older man with a look of disdain. “But here’s the thing, Tony…” He paused for a moment, concluding that he was certain about his next move. “I can’t play this game any longer. So, this time I’m leaving _you_.”

Without hesitation or waiting for any kind of response, Peter turned on heel and walked back into the gala, leaving Tony dumbfounded in his wake.

Tony tried to wrap his head around what happened. His heart felt like it had been ripped into a million different pieces. Peter finally hated him. That was the goal, right? But what Peter said alarmed him. Despite being a genius, it had never once occurred to him that all this time Peter was blaming himself for Tony’s actions.

He stood there for a moment, internally conflicted. On the one hand, Peter finally hated him. He would be able to move on at last. But on the other hand, Peter thought that it was all his fault. He had hurt Peter intentionally and Peter still thought it was his own fault. Tony wanted Peter to blame him, not himself.

He needed to tell Peter the truth. He couldn’t live with the idea that Peter thought there was something wrong with him, that he did something wrong. He didn’t know how to say it, but he knew he had to stop him.

Quickly moving back into the gala, he saw Peter in the distance cheerfully reuniting with Agosti. Despite knowing that it was a terrible idea, Tony started to approach them so the boy could at least hear him out. He only managed to move a couple of feet when he found himself being yanked toward the exit after an unexpected force linked arms with him and pulled. “I think it’s time for us to leave, _dearest_ ,” Natasha said loudly through gritted teeth as she tightened her grip to guide him. Tony looked back to see Peter disappearing in the distance. “I may be wearing a dress and high heels right now, Stark, but I can still break every bone in your arm in a matter of seconds,” she hissed under her breath.

“I just need to talk to—” he started to say.

“You see another billionaire playing with your discarded toy so now you want him again? Unbelievable.” Natasha muttered in irritation.

Without a second thought, he stopped abruptly in his tracks and tore his arm away from the spy, which happened to be a lot easier to do than he thought it would be. Nat looked moderately surprised. “I never stopped,” he snapped back, irritated at her accusations. Flustered, he massaged his brow. “Wanting him, I mean. I never stopped. He’s—He’s not just some toy.”

When Tony looked at Nat again, her features were softened, and she was grinning. She seemed fairly pleased with herself. He groaned, knowing she had tricked him into spilling that bit of information. He should have known better than to think Nat would say anything remotely mean about her baby spider. “If you know what’s good for you, then you should be telling _him_ that.”

He stepped forward to make a break for it, but Nat caught his arm and yet again proceeded to pull him toward the exit. “Not right now, dumbass. Right now you’re leaving before you do any more damage.”

He sighed in defeat, accepting his fate. “Calm down, Russian Assassin Barbie. I’ll go peacefully”

Peter watched from a distance as Tony was escorted out by Nat, much to his relief. He forced a smile as he turned back to Gregorio, not letting him see for even a moment that his heart was breaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But for real, guys, I spent like a week of not writing because I was so stuck on what the hell to have Agosti say about how Tony and Peter know each other. I wrote the "Father or grandfather?" line and thought it was atrocious, so I was trying to think of something else. I pulled up the Word document several, several times throughout a one week period just to close it after staring at it for like 10 minutes. Weirdest writer's block. But then I literally just said fuck it, I'm just going to roll with it. 
> 
> So if you're like "that was a really stupid line; the story is now completely ruined," I get it. I don't like it either.
> 
> Annnyway… 
> 
> Next chapter is the last chapter! :( The good news is it's a long one. When I was writing the summary of the story before I actually wrote the whole thing out, the ending I came up with in my notes was "And then it’s all passion and stuff." So you can look forward to that!
> 
> Thanks everyone!


	11. I've Grown Accustomed to His Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The grand finale! Peter confronts Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely people! 
> 
> Oh my goodness I'm so sorry this took as long as it did for me to post it. I kept fixing and changing things with the chapter because it just wasn't sitting right with me. I'm so so hoping that you all are happy with it! Hopefully you didn't come all this way to be disappointed! 
> 
> On the plus side, it's a long chapter with a lot of smut. 
> 
> Onward!

It was approximately one in the morning by the time Peter trudged toward his apartment door. While his body was still running high on adrenaline, he felt both mentally and emotionally exhausted by the events of that evening. His suit jacket was slung over one shoulder as he fumbled to unlock his front door.

The moment Peter noticed the door was already unlocked, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. There was no way he could have possibly forgotten to lock his door before leaving, so something was obviously awry. Making sure his web-shooter was armed and ready, the boy opened the door and slowly walked in.

He sighed in relief when he saw Tony sitting on his couch, flipping through an old photo album he found on a nearby bookshelf. Toeing off his shoes and throwing his jacket and keys on the table, he thought of an endless amount of questions he wanted to ask:

What the hell are you doing?

Why are you here?

How did you get in?

Don’t you think this is a _huge_ invasion of privacy?

Before he could settle on what to ask first, the older man decided to speak, still looking at the album in front of him. “You never told me that you were the kid in the Iron Man mask at the 2010 Stark Expo,” he said, as if it were just another conversation between them.

Peter chuckled in disbelief of his nonchalance. “There were a lot of kids in Iron Man masks at the 2010 Stark Expo,” he replied, folding his arms across his chest.

Tony finally glanced up from the book to look straight at the other man. “But only one that helped me take down a drone,” he smiled. Peter rolled his eyes, having known for a long time that the power he felt that night as a nine-year-old had been fake. “Why’d you never tell me?”

Peter sighed, feeling sheepish of the response he had readily available. “Because I never wanted you to think I needed you to save me,” he openly admitted.

It dawned on him that there was another piece to it he hadn’t thought of before, causing him to laugh at the pathetic reality of the situation. “And because I didn’t want you to only think of me as some kid.”

Tony put the book away, standing to meet Peter’s gaze. “I know it might not seem like it, but I haven’t thought of you as some kid for a long, long time,” he admitted.

Peter sighed in frustration, annoyed by the flurry of butterflies he felt in his stomach each and every time the older man looked at him like that. For the second time that night, he was compelled to ask, “Why are you here?”

“The mission was a success I take it?” Tony asked, leaning against the couch.

“Too good for a text?”

“Would you have answered?”

“Nope,” he responded honestly, casually unbuttoning the top few buttons of his dress shirt and ruffling his styled hair to loosen his curls in an effort to get comfortable in his own home. He looked back toward Tony and was surprised to see dark eyes staring back. As usual, he automatically dismissed it. “Yeah, SHIELD has their location, meaning my job is done.”

“Knew you could do it,” Tony said awkwardly, trying not to focus on the younger man’s now exposed neck.

Tony cringed as he heard the sarcastic laughter emerge from Peter’s lips. “Oh really? Is that why you were checking up on me?”

Now it was Tony’s turn to laugh. “That’s why you think I was there?”

“I don’t care why you were there, Tony!” Peter snapped, the remnants of a smiling face long gone. “What I do care about is the fact that you almost ruined my mission. This may have been some fucked up joke to you, but it wasn’t for me.” He was mildly surprised that the older man remained quiet. “If you didn’t want to help me any longer, then fine. I get it. But to try and sabotage me by having some pissing match with Agosti and try to get me to act like some little lovesick puppy? Are you really that desperate for attention?

“And if being around me is so awful, then why the hell make our training longer than SHIELD told you to?” His questions made it very apparent that he lost his filter some time earlier in the evening.

“Was it just some sick game to you? Did you just feel like getting your ego stroked? Maybe you were coming down from your “Sexiest Man of the Year” high, so you decided to spend that time watching me make moon eyes and practically throw myself at you? Or maybe you just needed a laugh? What’s funnier than crushing the heart of poor Peter Parker, the idiot who has been in love with you for years?”

Tony’s heart ached hearing Peter’s painful love confession. He knew that Peter had feelings for him, but he had only assumed it was a passing fancy over the past year. He never imagined he’d be hearing Peter say that he was in love with him and had been for years.

_That doesn’t change anything._

Peter wanted to rip his own hair out. He continued to do his best to prevent as many tears from falling as he could. “God, I really am an idiot for even thinking for a second that you cared about me. Why the fuck would you?”

Hearing those last words, Tony was compelled to finally say something. “That!” he exclaimed, pointing a finger and moving closer to him. " _That’s_ why I’m here,” he admitted, hoping that Peter would understand what he meant.

The younger man’s eyes squinted. “What? Because you don’t care about me? That doesn’t even—“

“No,” Tony replied, his voice escalating to meet Peter’s tone. “I’m here because I can’t let you continue to think that there’s even the slightest bit wrong with you. I—I never realized you would blame yourself for my fuck ups.”

Peter was incredibly confused. “What the hell are you talking about?”

The older man hated wearing his heart on his sleeve, but he hated the ideas that had apparently been plaguing the boy over the last year more. “You said to me earlier that I left you because of a stupid mistake _you_ made and because _you_ fucked everything up.” He sighed, knowing there was no coming back from this unscathed. But he couldn’t deny the truth any longer no matter how much he hated himself for it. “The only stupid mistake you’ve made is not seeing that this old, broken, fucked up, train wreck is pathetically in love with you.” Peter’s red eyes widened, but his eyebrows still showed his confusion.

“And the only thing you fucked up on was that you didn’t run for the hills the moment I somehow tricked you into caring about me.” Tony sighed. “I’ve destroyed every relationship I’ve ever had because I’m toxic. I couldn’t—I couldn’t let that happen with you. Not _you_.

“When it seemed like you were maybe starting to have feelings for me, I had to put a stop to it. I needed for you to wake up and realize that you’re better than that—better than me.” Tony confessed bitterly. “Because you do, you deserve so much better.

“I promise, I never thought for a moment that you would blame yourself. You were just supposed to blame me. You were supposed to hate _me_. I needed to get you as far away from me as possible to keep you safe.”

Tony was a fool for thinking Peter would accept that as a viable response. “Keep me safe? Keep me SAFE? Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Every trace of sadness Peter had was replaced by a sudden burst of anger as he processed what was said. The older man was surprised as he had not expected Peter’s sudden level of aggression. “I don’t need _you_ to keep _me_ safe.

“I’ve known you for seven years, you really don’t think I know you’re damaged goods? But guess what? So am I! It’s basically a prerequisite to being a superhero! You think you wrote the book on dysfunction and having a fucked-up life?” Peter pulled slightly on his own hair as he ran his fingers through it. “And sure, you’re older than me, but who the hell cares? With your level of immaturity, it pretty much balances out!” His face was flushed bright red, partial remains of his tears as well as his current level of fury.

“Jesus, Tony. Do you have any idea how much time I’ve spent replaying everything in my head? I’ve run through all of it a million times trying to pick apart what I did wrong. What could I have done differently to make Tony stay? And now I find out it was all because you’re a fucking idiot?” Tony continued to be shocked at the younger man’s outrage, though he fully agreed it was warranted. “Did it ever occur to you to let me choose? Let me be the one that decides if you’re worth the trouble or not?”

“You would have picked wrong,” Tony insisted.

“But it would have been _my_ mistake to make!” he replied confidently with balled up fists.

Tony shook his head. “I could wreck you.”

Peter took a step forward, so they were standing toe to toe, his eyes defiantly meeting the other man’s dark gaze. He mustered all the courage held in his body to mutter the words, “Then do it.”

The meager amount of self-control the man had left from the past year of misery finally snapped like a broken rubber band. As what could only be described as a growl emerged from Tony’s throat, he found himself crashing their lips together. He was surprised to feel the other man immediately return the kiss with the same level of eagerness. His fingers clung tightly to the back of Peter’s neck.

Peter used the groan Tony made from biting his lip to lick into the other man’s mouth with his tongue. They had closed all distance between them, fitting together like two puzzle pieces. Peter grinned cheekily as he felt Tony rapidly getting hard against him. His hands grabbed onto the man’s waist and pulled him in to properly grind against him with his own hardening length.

Tony tore apart from their heated kiss to move his focus to Peter’s bare neck. He aggressively bit and licked up and down the column of his neck, making sure that he left his mark. It wasn’t until that moment, breathing in the scent of Peter, that he realized what the boy had done. He pulled away from him to look him in the eyes, both of their chests heaving for air. “You’re wearing my cologne,” Tony said. Although he said it as a statement, the blushing Peter could tell it was really a question. Lucky for Tony, he knew the answer.

“It was my own subtle way of telling Agosti who I really belonged to,” he explained with a smug smirk.

Peter almost came then and there when he saw that look of unbridled hunger now staring back at him. With his super hearing, he managed to hear a faint growl of the word “mine” before Tony returned to mark Peter properly. Peter whined quietly as the older man flattened against him with only the force of his hips. He felt like melting at the feeling of the harsh brush of Tony’s facial hair rubbing on the bitemarks as he went. Each and every bite felt like its own form of branding.

Separating again for just a moment, Tony stared at the younger man in front of him, taking in the sight of bruises on his neck, blown pupils, messy curls, and extra red lips. He wanted to stare at this exact image endlessly. “I need for you to be completely sure about this— about us. If we keep going, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop. I’ll end up—”

“Shut up, Tony,” Peter said in exasperation before pulling the other man into another aggressive kiss, this time followed by him tearing Tony’s suit jacket off him. Humming with understanding, Tony then followed up by unbuttoning his own dress shirt and under shirt removing them as well. Peter quickly followed suit to remove his shirts, leaving him completely naked from the waist up.

Much to Peter’s frustration, Tony broke their kiss yet again, but this time to get a better look at the sight in front of him. “Fucking Christ, it’s like I built you in a lab,” the older man said in awe, moving his fingers teasingly over the boy’s heaving chest and muscles. He debated bending over then and there just to trace the outline of his ab muscles with his tongue. He had seen Peter shirtless countless times, just as recent as a few days earlier when the boy was at the tailor and he had to excuse himself, but this was the first time he allowed himself to truly stare and touch.

Peter rolled his eyes. “Get better material, old man.”

“Hmmm…. Clearly not obedient enough to be one of my creations,” Tony said. Peter bit his lip as he watched his mentor remove his belt in one swift, fluid motion. He had no idea that someone could make a simple task like removing a belt look sexy. Once the belt was removed, Peter grabbed the man by the belt loops and pulled him into a hard kiss.

“Obedient?” Peter smiled as he unbuttoned and unzipped the top of Tony’s pants much to Tony’s surprise. “Where’s the fun in that?” Tony looked at the younger man with dark interest, following his movements closely. He was tempted to bite at the smug smirk that danced on Peter’s lips but was glad he decided against it as he watched the boy fall to his knees, taking Tony’s dress pants with him.

The sight of Peter on his knees staring up at him with wide eyes and bruised lips pressed against his boxer briefs made him fully harden. Pulling down the last layer, Peter took Tony’s thick cock in his hand with an experimental stroke. Without hesitation, the boy licked from base to tip, his eyes remaining locked with Tony’s.

Although his heart was severely pounding in his chest, Peter found it interesting that he wasn’t nervous or fumbling like he thought he would have been. It wasn’t his first time, but he was by no means an expert. He felt strangely confident as he took his mentor’s cock in his mouth as far as he could take it without discomfort. Maybe it was the adrenaline leftover from the mission? Maybe he just felt empowered by finally taking what he wanted?

His best guess was that he had fantasized this exact scene a million times over, so he knew exactly what to do. While the action itself visualized seemed incredibly familiar, the feeling of Tony’s cock on his tongue, the vibrations he felt run through Tony’s body as he moaned, and the taste of the precum spilling from the top were senses better than he could ever have imagined.

Tony couldn’t tear his eyes away from the beautiful sight at his feet. The look of Peter’s pink lips stretching around his cock was precisely how he pictured it. The realization that the perfect boy in front of him, licking and swirling his tongue on his slit, was all his and no one else was a burning in the pit of his belly. The thought and the feeling alone triggered Tony to inadvertently thrust his hips forward, causing Peter to choke.

The older man was about to apologize when he heard the most wonderful moan emerge from the boy’s lips that remained tightened around him. “Oh, you liked that, huh?” he asked intrigued.

Much to Tony’s amusement, he heard the raspy words, “God yes,” come out of Peter’s mouth before he returned to swallowing down Tony’s dick as he palmed himself with his free hand. Peter surprised himself, not having felt this type of desire before.

“Fuck,” Tony whispered seemingly amazed by his luck. Testing the waters, he raked his fingers through Peter’s curls just as he had always wanted to. In his second pass, he tightened his grasp and gave an experimental thrust. He was met again with the same beautiful moan vibrating around his cock.

Tony continued to thrust shallowly into the younger man’s mouth, watching with intense fascination as Peter seemed to enjoy himself. He had to admit, this was not at all how he had imagined any of this going.

Peter wanted to be one of Tony’s possessions; to feel like the older man owned him. The way Tony was fucking into his mouth made him feel just that. With his desire being fulfilled and his dialed up to 11 senses in overdrive, he began to feel very overwhelmed.

“God, you’re perfect,” Tony whispered in awe. “Just so perfect.”

At the sound of those words, Peter broke apart from the older man. “Stop, stop,” he insisted, catching his breath with his head down, moving slightly off to the side in front of the couch

Tony was terrified that he had somehow overstepped some line and quickly sat on the couch in front of him to lower himself to Peter’s level. “Okay, stop and we stop,” he repeated with concern, although the thought of stopping pained him beyond belief.

Relief washed over Tony when he saw that when Peter raised his head back up, he was smiling. His cheeks were the cutest shade of red Tony had ever seen. “I was too close. I just—didn’t want to come until you were inside of me.”

Tony was floored by his confession and threw his head back. “Jesus Christ, Pete. You can’t say things like that to an old man with a heart condition.” When he lowered his head, it was just in time to watch as Peter stood up and stripped himself his remaining clothes.

The older man’s heart pounded in his chest as he gazed at Peter up and down with wide eyes and intense hunger. Wrapping his fingers tightly around the back of the boy’s bare thighs, Tony pulled him closer and stared up at him with a smirk. His fingers dug tightly into the meat beneath his ass. “Though I’m very, _very_ confident in my ability to make you come more than once tonight, Mr. Parker. If you’re up for it, of course.”

“Please,” Peter responded in a whisper coated with the sound of pure desperation. Feeling another sudden jolt of confidence, he added. “After the shit you put me through over the past year, it’s the least you could— FUCK!” Tony, thoroughly agreeing that he had a lot to make up for, had decided to cut him off by taking Peter’s dripping cock in his mouth and sucking him in. “Oh god, Tony,” he breathed, raking his fingers through the man’s hair, doing his best to restrain himself from pulling too hard. As much as it annoyed him that Tony was amazingly skilled at yet another thing, Peter figured he could forgive him, just as long as he continued what he was currently doing with his tongue.

“I’m not—I’m not going to last—,” Peter admitted, having already been so close once before. His breathing was ragged as he enjoyed the feeling of pleasure washing through him. He moved to pull out of the mouth of the man who was causing his toes to curl but was stopped by Tony’s fingers holding him in place.

Peter was so distracted that he didn’t even notice that those fingers had moved up and were simultaneously holding him in Tony’s mouth and spreading him open. When Peter felt one of Tony’s beautifully callused, pre-come covered fingers slowly and carefully breaching his hole, Peter screamed louder than the other occupants of the apartment building likely appreciated. Tony’s finger continue to shallowly move in and out of him as Peter poured down Tony’s throat.

“Fuck…fuck….” He whispered as he came down from the high.

“What a mouth on you,” Tony pretended to scold him for his language.

Peter laughed. “I could say the same thing about you.” Barely being able to find the strength in his legs to stand, rather than falling back to his knees he decided to fall right into Tony’s bare lap to straddle him. He made it a point in his movement to briefly rub against Tony’s painfully erect cock, garnering an involuntary hiss from the older man.

Peter intended to tease the man more but found himself being lifted and then thrown to be spread out across the couch. The boy laughed as Tony quickly sprawled out on top of him. The laughter was short lived when his lips were recaptured aggressively, Tony’s fingers freely caressing Peter’s body.

Wriggling his arm free, Peter stretched his arm back far enough to rifle through the second drawer of the end table next to the couch. Much to Peter’s surprise, Tony thought this was the perfect opportunity to tease one of the nipples that Peter had practically forced into his face with his stretching. “Tony,” he reprimanded quietly, distracted by the other man’s movements that were making it difficult to locate what he needed. Finally, the boy found the small bottle of lube he was searching for.

Tony looked both aghast and amused. “I know for a fact your aunt left you that end table. What would she think if she knew it’s where you store your lube? Come on, that’s what your nightstand is for.”

Peter practically snorted in amusement, especially considering that he had found lube in Tony’s lab more than once. “Firstly, bold of you to assume I don’t also have one in my nightstand—”

“Fair,” Tony nodded.

“Secondly, I’m a young, single guy living in this day and age where streaming to the big screen in my living room can be done with just a touch of a button—she knew the risks when she left it here,” he responded overly-dramatically, handing the bottle to Tony.

“Were,” the older man corrected.

“Hmm?”

“You _were_ a young, single guy living in this day and age,” Tony clarified.

For a moment, Peter was still confused by what Tony was trying to say. Slowly but surely, he began to process his intent. “I _am_ a young, single guy living in this day and age. Are you looking to help me make a change to that?” he teased, finding it very difficult to control his smiling.

“Are you interested?” Tony asked back, kissing the man’s chest, and loving the feeling of Peter’s soft legs and thighs as he teasingly ran his fingers across the skin.

“I’m sure you’ll find that I can be very flexible,” he said, his words dripping with innuendo.

“Hmm, I’ve noticed,” Tony said in a deep voice as he bit at the boy’s neck and moved to hook one of his legs over Tony’s shoulders to get better access. The sudden change caused a whimper to emerge from Peter’s lips as his cock began to take interest. Although he didn’t really want to know the answer, he felt compelled to ask, “Have you done this before?”

After Peter nodded, he gasped when he felt the pressure of Tony’s lube covered finger slowly entering him. “I thought he could help me get over you.”

Peter saw Tony’s eyes darken with the look of possessiveness that made his heart flutter rapidly. “Did it work?” he asked adding another finger, causing another involuntary whimper. He started to scissor his fingers to stretch, driving the boy crazy with every move.

Taking pride in his role of being a little shit, he responded with, “And if it did?” Peter threw his head back and arched upwards as Tony quickly added a third finger, far sooner after the second than he had anticipated. He wondered if it could be considered torture when he was enjoying it as much as he was. “Fuck, _Tony_!”

“Just means I’ll have to make you forget,” he whispered moving his fingers in and out.

“If it worked, I probably wouldn’t be here begging you to fuck me, now would I?” Peter snapped in frustration much to Tony’s amusement.

Pleased with Peter’s answer, Tony slicked his cock with the lube before tossing the bottle to the side. Peter whined as Tony removed his fingers, desperately wanting to be filled again. He felt relief as he could feel Tony’s cock slowly stretching him. “Fuuuuck!” This time it was Tony to compulsively swear, feeling the tightness and warmth wrapped around him. “God, you’re so perfect. So fucking tight.”

Tony was so distracted with the feeling of Peter’s heat that he was surprised when Peter unexpectedly used his strength to swap their positions with Peter on top. Quickly with precision, he lowered himself back to impale himself on Tony’s cock, loving how it filled him fuller than he had ever been filled before. “Jesus,” he said breathlessly.

“What about you?” he said coyly as he rolled his hips at a snail pace. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the line of guys after your split with Pepper.” There was a clear bitterness in his voice. “Do I have to make you forget them?”

Tony’s hands were tightly gripping Peter’s hips. The movements the boy made were painfully slow; he was certain it was intentional. Every attempt to thrust upwards or move Peter with his hands were blocked by the boy’s super strength. He grunted with frustration. “No.”

“And why not?” Peter asked with a sly smile, moving his hips ever so gently. He could feel Tony’s attempt to move faster but effortlessly resisted him. Tony Stark, Iron Man, quite possibly the most powerful man in the universe and Peter had him whimpering and writhing beneath him in sheer desperation. He had never felt more powerful than he did at that exact moment.

“Because they weren’t you,” the man admitted. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“FUCK!” Tony yelled, knowing he must have answered correctly. Peter had quickened his hips, using his feet on the couch as leverage to add force. “Jesus Christ, Pete,” Tony breathed, floored by the younger man’s insatiable movements. He had never felt such powerful thrusts along with the tightness around his cock. “Mine,” he growled. “You’re all mine.” Tony began to stroke Peter’s leaking cock with vigor.

“Yes! Yours. Oh god, oh god,” Peter chanted as he adjusted to the perfect angle to hit his prostate with each movement, causing him to arch backwards. “I’m going to come.”

Tony watched with intense fascination as Peter fell apart on his cock with a yell, riding out his orgasm with thorough movements. He could feel Peter’s walls tighten its grip around him, pushing him closer to his own peak.

“Please, Tony,” Peter panted. “Please, I need you to come in me. Please.” He bounced on the man’s cock, throwing his head back as he moved with purpose.

“FUCK, FUCK!” Tony groaned, Peter’s words pushing him with extraordinary force over the edge. His fingers were wrapped tightly on the boy’s hips, thrusting erratically and filling Peter with his hot come.

Once Tony’s movements slowed and he pulled out, Peter found himself collapsing on the man’s chest, both attempting to catch their breaths. The moment they managed to catch their breaths, both men started laughing, neither believing what had just happened was real.

The two were waiting for the moment where they would wake up and realize it had all been a dream.

Peter laid his head on the older man’s chest, hearing his elevated heart rate begin to slow back to normal. Tony wrapped his arms around the boy, still reveling in his luck.

After a minute of neither speaking, Peter decided to finally break the silence. “Was,” he said simply as he leisurely traced the scars on Tony’s chest with his fingers.

Tony raised his head to look down at him. “Hmm?”

Peter tilted his head upward to look directly at the man, a bright smile adorning his face. “You were right. I _was_ a young, single guy living in this day and age.” He could feel the older man’s heartbeat speed up again as he processed what he meant.

“But now you’re not?” Tony asked, feeling the contagiousness of the boy’s smile.

“Nope,” Peter said simply.

“Good,” he replied, very pleased with the response. “Then I’ll just have to keep you.” Tony gently kissed the top of Peter’s head of curls, lazily stroking his back as he held him close.

“Good,” Peter echoed back, nuzzling into Tony’s chest to get comfortable.

And at that moment, neither man could recall a time in their lives where they had ever been happier.

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! 
> 
> I can't tell you all enough how much I truly appreciate the comments and kudos. They really do brighten my day and I love to read them. 
> 
> Shameless plug: If you actually liked this story, please feel free to check out some of my other work, more specifically my Freaky Friday fanfic. I do have another story idea brewing in my head for another comedy (this one will actually be a comedy, not like the so-not-comedy that this story turned out to be!), which I'll start writing soon. If all goes as planned you'll likely see it show up in probably a month (I always write my stories to completion before I post). 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed! :)


	12. I've Grown Accustomed to his Face (Alternate Ending)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An alternate ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here’s the thing, guys… The last chapter hasn’t been sitting right with me. Yes, it was the original ending I had planned, but after writing it out and posting it, I just keep coming back to it. It just didn't feel right. 
> 
> I guess it wouldn’t really be My Fair Lady-esque if there wasn’t an issue with the ending, right? 
> 
> For those of you who don’t know what I mean, there are alternate endings to My Fair Lady. There’s the “happy ending” version where the two characters get together in the end. Though, it’s open for debate as to whether that could actually be considered a “happy ending.” Then there’s the version where Eliza (the Peter character) leaves her love interest, recognizing her own self-worth and independence. 
> 
> So, I bring you an alternate version to the ending. It’s still a happy ending, because I can’t not have these two idiots get together. The first part of the chapter is mostly the same, but the rest is a bit different. I’d still recommend reading through all of it, though. 
> 
> This wasn’t planned at all. I’m hoping that if you were dissatisfied with the last chapter, maybe this will redeem the story for you. 
> 
> As always, thank you all so much for the comments! I truly do love and appreciate each and every one. 
> 
> Enjoy!

It was approximately one in the morning by the time Peter trudged toward his apartment door. While his body was still running high on adrenaline, he felt both mentally and emotionally exhausted by the events of that evening. His suit jacket was slung over one shoulder as he fumbled to unlock his front door.

The moment Peter noticed the door was already unlocked, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. There was no way he could have possibly forgotten to lock his door before leaving, so something was obviously awry. Making sure his web-shooter was armed and ready, the boy opened the door and slowly walked in.

He sighed in relief when he saw Tony sitting on his couch, flipping through an old photo album he found on a nearby bookshelf. Toeing off his shoes and throwing his jacket and keys on the table, he thought of an endless amount of questions he wanted to ask:

What the hell are you doing?

Why are you here?

How did you get in?

Don’t you think this is a _huge_ invasion of privacy?

Before he could settle on what to ask first, the older man decided to speak, still looking at the album in front of him. “You never told me that you were the kid in the Iron Man mask at the 2010 Stark Expo,” he said, as if it were just another conversation between them.

Peter chuckled in disbelief of his nonchalance. “There were a lot of kids in Iron Man masks at the 2010 Stark Expo,” he replied, folding his arms across his chest.

Tony finally glanced up from the book to look straight at the other man. “But only one that helped me take down a drone,” he smiled. Peter rolled his eyes, having known for a long time that the power he felt that night as a nine-year-old had been fake. “Why’d you never tell me?”

Peter sighed, feeling sheepish of the response he had readily available. “Because I never wanted you to think I needed you to save me,” he openly admitted.

It dawned on him that there was another piece to it he hadn’t thought of before, causing him to laugh at the pathetic reality of the situation. “And because I didn’t want you to only think of me as some kid.”

Tony put the book away, standing to meet Peter’s gaze. “I know it might not seem like it, but I haven’t thought of you as some kid for a long, long time,” he admitted.

Peter sighed in frustration, annoyed by the flurry of butterflies he felt in his stomach each and every time the older man looked at him like that. For the second time that night, he was compelled to ask, “Why are you here?”

“The mission was a success I take it?” Tony asked, leaning against the couch.

“Too good for a text?”

“Would you have answered?”

“Nope,” he responded honestly, casually unbuttoning the top few buttons of his dress shirt and ruffling his styled hair to loosen his curls in an effort to get comfortable in his own home. He looked back toward Tony and was surprised to see dark eyes staring back. As usual, he automatically dismissed it. “Yeah, SHIELD has their location, meaning my job is done.”

“Knew you could do it,” Tony said awkwardly, trying not to focus on the younger man’s now exposed neck.

Tony cringed as he heard the sarcastic laughter emerge from Peter’s lips. “Oh really? Is that why you were checking up on me?”

Now it was Tony’s turn to laugh. “That’s why you think I was there?”

“I don’t care why you were there, Tony!” Peter snapped, the remnants of a smiling face long gone. “What I do care about is the fact that you almost ruined my mission. This may have been some fucked up joke to you, but it wasn’t for me.” He was mildly surprised that the older man remained quiet. “If you didn’t want to help me any longer, then fine. I get it. But to try and sabotage me by having some pissing match with Agosti and try to get me to act like some little lovesick puppy? Are you really that desperate for attention?

“And if being around me is so awful, then why the hell make our training longer than SHIELD told you to?” His questions made it very apparent that he lost his filter some time earlier in the evening.

“Was it just some sick game to you? Did you just feel like getting your ego stroked? Maybe you were coming down from your “Sexiest Man of the Year” high, so you decided to spend that time watching me make moon eyes and practically throw myself at you? Or maybe you just needed a laugh? What’s funnier than crushing the heart of poor Peter Parker, the idiot who has been in love with you for years?”

Tony’s heart ached hearing Peter’s painful love confession. He knew that Peter had feelings for him, but he had only assumed it was a passing fancy over the past year. He never imagined he’d be hearing Peter say that he was in love with him and had been for years.

Peter wanted to rip his own hair out. He continued to do his best to prevent as many tears from falling as he could. “God, I really am an idiot for even thinking for a second that you cared about me. Why the fuck would you?”

Hearing those last words, Tony was compelled to finally say something. “That!” he exclaimed, pointing a finger and moving closer to him. " _That’s_ why I’m here,” he admitted, hoping that Peter would understand what he meant.

The younger man’s eyes squinted. “What? Because you don’t care about me? That doesn’t even—“

“No,” Tony replied, his voice escalating to meet Peter’s tone. “I’m here because I can’t let you continue to think that there’s even the slightest bit wrong with you. I—I never realized you would blame yourself for my fuck ups.”

Peter was incredibly confused. “What the hell are you talking about?”

The older man hated wearing his heart on his sleeve, but he hated the ideas that had apparently been plaguing the boy over the last year more. “You said to me earlier that I left you because of a stupid mistake _you_ made and because _you_ fucked everything up.” He sighed, knowing there was no coming back from this unscathed. But he couldn’t deny the truth any longer no matter how much he hated himself for it. “The only stupid mistake you’ve made is not seeing that this old, broken, fucked up, train wreck is pathetically in love with you.” Peter’s red eyes widened, but his eyebrows still showed his confusion.

“And the only thing you fucked up on was that you didn’t run for the hills the moment I somehow tricked you into caring about me.” Tony sighed. “I’ve destroyed every relationship I’ve ever had because I’m toxic. I couldn’t—I couldn’t let that happen with you. Not _you_.

“When it seemed like you were maybe starting to have feelings for me, I had to put a stop to it. I needed for you to wake up and realize that you’re better than that—better than me.” Tony confessed bitterly. “Because you do, you deserve so much better.

“I promise, I never thought for a moment that you would blame yourself. You were just supposed to blame me. You were supposed to hate _me_. I needed to get you as far away from me as possible to keep you safe.”

Tony was a fool for thinking Peter would accept that as a viable response. “Keep me safe? Keep me SAFE? Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Every trace of sadness Peter had was replaced by a sudden burst of anger as he processed what was said. The older man was surprised as he had not expected Peter’s sudden level of aggression. “I don’t need _you_ to keep _me_ safe.

“I’ve known you for seven years, you really don’t think I know you’re damaged goods? But guess what? So am I! It’s basically a prerequisite to be a superhero! You think you wrote the book on dysfunction and having a fucked-up life?” Peter pulled slightly on his own hair as he ran his fingers through it.

“Jesus, Tony. Do you have any idea how much time I’ve spent replaying everything in my head? I’ve run through all of it a million times trying to pick apart what I did wrong. What could I have done differently to make Tony stay? And now I find out it was all because you’re a fucking idiot?” Tony continued to be shocked at the younger man’s outrage, though he fully agreed it was warranted. “Did it ever occur to you to let me choose? Let me be the one that decides if you’re worth the trouble or not?”

“But what happens when I inevitably fuck it up?” Tony insisted.

“If that happened, then it would have been _my_ mistake to make!” he replied confidently. “I’m an adult. I’m capable of making my own decisions. If you no longer think of me as a kid, then you should already know that.”

Tony sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, Peter had a point. “You’re right,” the man said hesitantly. “You’re absolutely right. I’ve spent our entire relationship so focused on trying to protect you that I didn’t let myself consider the fact that you’re capable of making your own choices and learn from your own mistakes.”

“You know, you’re so certain that something is going to go wrong. Did you ever think for a minute that it could actually work out?” Peter said with pleading eyes.

Tony shook his head. “No, I never let myself. I couldn’t stand to think about us being together when I knew it wasn’t possible.”

Peter hated being mature. He wanted nothing more than to tell Tony everything was going to be great followed by pulling him into a deep kiss. He wanted to erase all the man’s concerns and throw caution to the wind so that they could finally give into the urges that had been torturing them for years.

But he couldn’t.

Peter no longer had doubts that Tony wanted him. Now that Tony had confirmed that, Peter thought back to all of the passing stares, subtle touches, and looks of hunger he had seen but told himself to ignore.

He knew that if he pressed, Tony would take him then and there without further hesitation. He could finally know what it felt like to have the older man move inside him.

But he couldn’t.

Because he needed to know that Tony could see a future for them, not just a quick fuck followed by frantically trying to sort out what it meant. He didn’t want to sleep with Tony and make him think he reluctantly owed Peter a relationship because of it. He needed Tony to want a relationship because of all of the amazing possibilities he could imagine for their future, just as Peter had for years.

Peter really hated being mature because it made him say things like, “Maybe you need time to think.”

That night as he lie alone in his bed, remembering the look on Tony’s face as he left, Peter wondered if he had made the right decision. He ached to feel the other man’s hands and hot mouth on him. For now, all he could do was tell himself it was all for the best.

* * *

“Two spiders enter, one spider leaves,” Peter said in a low, booming voice to imitate an announcer as he pulled and stepped through the ropes to join Natasha in the boxing ring at the Avenger’s Facility gym.

Natasha shook her head with an eyeroll as she suppressed a laugh, finishing the ties on her hands. “Don’t get too cocky. My power feeds off arrogance.”

“Oh no no,” he replied, holding his hands up. “I fully acknowledge that I may be the spider about to be squashed.”

“You know, you could teach your Uncle Happy a few things about humility,” she said with a mischievous grin.

Peter arched a brow. “Please tell me there’s a story to go along with that cryptically vague comment,” he pleaded.

“I may have taught him a lesson about not underestimating women… by wiping the floor with him.” Nat was, of course, rather pleased to be reminded of that memory.

Peter’s eyes lit up. “FRIDAY, please tell me you have a recording of that saved somewhere?”

“I did manage to locate an archived security recording from my predecessor and have sent the recording to your phone,” FRIDAY replied, much to Peter’s delight.

“Thank you sooo much,” he said to both of them with a bright smile. “I can’t wait to show May the next time I see her.”

“Okay, quit your stalling,” Nat teased, extending her hand for him to slap to signal the start of their sparring.

The moment he slapped her hand, he immediately put his fists up to protect himself as they moved around the space. Each and every dodge and throw were countered by the other without hesitation. Peter watched Nat’s movements with intense fascination, always admiring her style of fighting. He knew it’d be a miracle if he got out of this unscathed.

When they pulled apart several hits later and circled around the ring to catch their breaths, Nat decided to strike up conversation. “I’m glad you called, by the way. I was concerned I wasn’t going to see you for another year like last time.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I realize that I’ve kind of been acting like a shitty friend lately,” he admitted wryly.

She shrugged. “Love makes fools of us all.”

“Some more than others,” Peter added.

“You seem happier,” she noted, causing Peter to blush. Typical Nat and her ability to read him so easily.

He brushed it off. “Helps to not have the impending dread of going on a mission where everything is riding on how good you are at pretending like you’re trying to get into someone’s pants.”

“I’ve heard nothing but good things about your mission, though,” Nat told him, her face showing pride for her baby spider.

“I owe you a lot for that,” Peter admitted.

She dismissed his comment. “We only gave you the supplies; you’re the one that put it all together.” He watched with deep concern as her face showed sudden signs of excitement. “You know, I do have a mission next week—”

“No way!” he cut her off adamantly. “Never again!”

Nat laughed at him before returning to their sparring.

The next time they parted to catch their breath, Nat felt compelled to pry. “Have you spoken to him since last Saturday?”

Peter rubbed at his shoulder that she had just finished attacking, knowing he will be very grateful for his super healing after this exercise. He could tell right away that she meant Tony; he doubted she wanted to know if he had managed to keep in contact with Agosti after putting him behind bars. “Kind of. I saw him very briefly walking out when I had a meeting with Pepper on Monday morning. Apparently, he legally signed away his ability to influence my employment status at SI.”

She looked confused. “Meaning?”

“Meaning he can’t fire me, he can’t promote me, he can’t demote me; he has absolutely no power over my career. It’s entirely in Pepper’s hands.” Peter explained, still a little surprised about the whole ordeal he walked into first thing Monday morning, before he even had his coffee.

“That’s a good thing, though, right?” Nat asked, trying to read his face as she had a million times before.

“Well, Pepper promoted me on the spot, so yeah, it was great,” he smirked ever so slightly. “There were also three job offers from other companies, including at Oscorp. I guess Tony made some calls on Sunday. Or if I’d rather, Pepper said they’d provide a written recommendation if there was some place else I wanted to go. Pretty sure she was just as confused about the whole meeting as I was.”

She looked surprised. “Wow, that’s—uncharacteristically mature of him.” She moved toward her water bottle sitting off to the side. “So, what’d you end up doing?”

“The possibility of working with Tony was only a small reason why I wanted to work there.” Peter shrugged. “I like my job. I get to do amazing things that I wouldn’t be able to do anywhere else. Not to mention, no one asks questions when I mysteriously disappear for hours on end because I’m off saving the world.”

His words made Nat laugh, knowing he wasn’t wrong. “Plus, he was true to his word; he let _me_ choose.”

She wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but she had the feeling she should remain quiet at that moment as he had a very intense look on his face.

Needless to say, Peter was somewhat worried that the older man had yet to reach out to him despite the fact that it had been nearly a week since they had last spoke. He wasn’t sure what to think about that but did his best not to assume the worst.

“Nat, am I an idiot for missing him?” Nat’s features softened as she looked at him solemnly.

“Are you an idiot for falling in love with Tony Stark? Absolutely,” she said, hoping to make the boy smile. Thankfully, it did. “Though I’m sure that wasn’t intentional. But are you an idiot for missing the man you love after everything that’s happened? No, not in the slightest.

“Just know, he may have fucked up, but he wouldn’t have done it unless he truly thought it was the best thing for you, no matter how miserable it made him.” Peter nodded, his gaze turned downward, and his arms folded over his chest. Nat gently placed a hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort him. “And trust me, Pete, he was miserable.”

Peter opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the sound of the gym doors opening. Almost as if summoned, Tony Stark walked through the entrance wearing exercise gear and carrying a water bottle. “Speak of the devil,” Nat whispered to him, soft enough for the new entrant not to hear.

Seeing the two individuals in the ring, Tony’s face cycled through the look of surprise followed by a sheepish look as if he were some place he shouldn’t have been, even though he owned the whole monstrous building. “Oh, sorry,” he sputtered, turning to leave.

Peter’s kneejerk reaction was to frown, thinking that Tony didn’t want to be around him. Then his brain slapped him in the face as he realized he was past that line of thought, knowing now that it was far from the truth. “I think the gym might be big enough for three people,” he teased, gazing around at the massive space that could easily fit several hundred people comfortably. Tony paused.

Seeing Peter’s reaction and knowing how to read him like a book, Nat chimed in, “Actually, we were just about to wrap up anyway.” She nodded at Peter with a sly smirk as if to give encouragement. The two exited the ring. Just as Nat passed Tony to leave, she briefly patted him on the shoulder and told him, “Don’t fuck it up.” Peter knew she meant to say it quietly enough so Peter couldn’t hear, but she obviously underestimated his hearing.

Peter was annoyed that his heart fluttered in his chest the moment he got close enough to the older man to gaze directly into his eyes. They looked like the eyes of someone hopeful yet cautious. “So…” Peter said, searching for the words he wanted to say.

“So…” Tony echoed. Thankfully, he knew how to continue. “Pepper tells me you made your choice and you’re staying.”

The boy nodded. “I am.”

Tony continued to tiptoe around him. “Good—That’s good.”

“It is,” Peter replied, somewhat amused to see Tony’s over cautiousness, now knowing the man’s true feelings. “It’s a good company. And I get to do great things there that I couldn’t anywhere else,” He explained just as he had to Nat earlier. “Plus, I have access to equipment that other companies could only dream of.”

The older man watched him closely as he stepped forward, so they were an arm’s length from each other. He cleared his throat. “Is that the only reason you’re staying?”

Peter knew what he was really asking, but being the little shit that he was, he didn’t want to give him what he wanted to hear quite yet, not when he had been waiting all week to speak to him. “Yep.”

He felt somewhat bad seeing the look of hurt on the man’s face. “Ah,” Tony replied with a nod.

“Of course, there are other perks,” Peter said with a smirk. “Provided the other perks don’t purposely avoid me at work anymore.”

His heart skipped a beat when he saw Tony try to suppress the way his face lit up on its own. “Oh?” he said, trying to act smooth. Normally Tony Stark didn’t have to _act_ smooth, he just _was_ smooth. Yet another way Peter had messed with his head and managed to turn him into a nervous wreck.

“I think the _other perks_ can arrange that.” The man took another step forward, standing with Peter toe to toe. “The _other perks_ were also wondering if some time, outside of work, you’d maybe like to—” Tony went silent and cringed “Okay, I’m going to stop that. I’m sorry, I was trying to be cute, but then it just got weird.” Peter raised his eyebrows, seeing a lot of himself in the other man, speaking far too fast with nervous energy. “I was going to do a whole big thing this weekend, but since I ran into you—What I’m trying to say is that I was wondering if at some time in the near future you would maybe like to go out—”

This time his sentence was cut off by Peter’s smiling lips that took pity on the flustered man. After a sharp inhale of surprise, Tony relaxed into the warm kiss, gently framing the boy’s face with his hands. There was no flurry of desperation or push for control, just a kiss from two equals with all the time in the world to make things right.

When the kiss was broken, neither man could control the grinning that was pinned on their respective faces. “One condition,” Peter said, grabbing Tony’s hand to place it on his own shoulder much to the older man’s confusion.

“Anything,” Tony replied without having any idea where he was going with this. He didn’t care. There was very little he was willing to do in order to make Peter Parker happy.

“FRIDAY? Music please?” Peter said to the air, barely containing his giddiness as he grabbed Tony’s right hand and put his free hand on Tony’s waist.

When the roll of the piano flooded the speakers, Tony snorted in laughter. “I may have spoken too soon. Probably shouldn’t have said ‘anything,’” he teased.

“Well, we never finished our lesson,” Peter explained, trying to keep a straight face as he slowly moved with the other man. Even though he had chosen to lead, he was surprised by how simple and right it felt as they danced. There was no impending mission, there was no painfully unrequited love shrouding their relationship; it was just simple.

“This might be a bit too cheesy; don’t you think?” Tony continued to poke.

Peter shook his head as he continued to slowly move with the other man. “I think this is just the right amount of cheese.”

Peter took that opportunity to double down and lead Tony in a spin, much to the older man’s amusement. “I see the pupil has become the master.”

“Hmm… see now that’s a cheesy line,” Peter responded with a scrunched-up face.

“You love it,” Tony replied smugly.

Peter looked up at the man, his heart feeling unbelievably full. “I really do.” Tony kissed the top of Peter’s head as he rested it on the older man’s shoulder.

And at that moment, neither man could recall a time in their lives where they had ever been happier.

The End. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the end for real this time.
> 
> If you prefer this chapter to the last, I'm glad I posted it!  
> If you preferred the last chapter, great!  
> If you liked them both equal, awesome!  
> If you still didn't like either, then I'm sorry to disappoint. 
> 
> Regardless your feelings, thank you very much for reading. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! I truly appreciate and love any kudos or comments! :)


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